Biden Privately Asked NATO Leaders For Advice Ahead Of Summit With Putin - US Official

WASHINGTON (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 15th June, 2021) US President Joe Biden asked the leaders of the NATO member states for advice ahead of his upcoming meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin and vowed to coordinate with them the arms control agenda, a senior Biden administration official told reporters on Tuesday.

"And he explained to the leaders what he intended to say. He did so privately, behind closed doors, so I'm not going to get into the details of it," the official said. "And he asked them to share whatever thoughts or advice they had about the meeting."

The official noted that several leaders responded with commentary and were positive about the upcoming summit with Putin.

"He [Biden] also pledged to them that on an ongoing basis -to the extent, for example, we're working with Russia on arms control-related issues - he would coordinate closely with NATO so that they had a chance to have input into the arms control agenda," the official added.

The upcoming summit between Putin and Biden is scheduled for Wednesday at the Villa La Grange in Geneva. Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said that the meeting will last about five hours.