F.P. Report
MOSCOW: On Sunday Kremlin spokesperson confirmed that Russian Presi-dent Vladimir Putin and U.S president Joe Biden had their first phone conversation on January 26th.
Kremlin Spokesperson Dmitry Peskov stated that during the conversation both the dignitaries confirmed very deep differences that require a rather intensive dialogue.
Moreover during the conversation both sides clearly confirmed that there are very deep differences but agreed that the presence of these differences should not mean the lack of dialogue and on the contrary these differences demand a rather intensive dialogue between the two countries, Peskov stated.
Kremling spokesperson termed the January 26 phone conversation betw-een the two leaders was “business-like and pragmatic”.
During the conversation the leaders expressed satisfaction over the exchange of diplomatic notes on extending New START between the two countries.
They also discussed pressing bilateral and international issues, including cooperation in the fight against the coronavirus pandemic and other areas, namely trade and economy.
As an example of these disagreements, Peskov named the stance on Ukraine. After the phone conversation, the Kremlin press service used the term “inter-Ukrainian settlement,” whereas White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki mentioned “Russia’s ongoing aggression” against Ukraine.
Additionally he also mentioned that “This is the position of the United States of America, which we strongly oppose,” Peskov stressed. “This is one of conceptual differences, which are on the agenda of our relations now”, he said.
He also stated that Rus-sia and President Putin will keep consistently explaining the convinced position to the other party, he said.
Kremling spokesperson notified that, Russia initiated the phone conversation “literally a few days” after Biden’s inauguration on January 20. Regarding the time span of the phone conversation, he said that it lasted for more than 35 minutes.
