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US and Russia seek to ease tensions in first meeting under Joe Biden
- Top diplomats from US and Russia have face-to-face encounter in Iceland
- Ties between the nations have deteriorated sharply in recent months
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The US and Russian foreign ministers have sought to ease tensions in their first meeting since President Joe Biden took office, saying they were ready to cooperate but acknowledging the wide gulf separating them.
Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov described the talks in Reykjavik on Wednesday – aimed in part at confirming a potential summit between presidents Biden and Vladimir Putin – as “constructive”.
“There is an understanding of the need to overcome the unhealthy situation in ties between Moscow and Washington,” Lavrov told reporters, although he added there were “a lot of logjams”.
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During almost two hours of discussions, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken expressed Washington’s “deep concerns” about Russian troops massed along the Ukraine border despite an announced pullback, a US State Department spokesman said.
Blinken also voiced US disquiet over the health of jailed Kremlin critic Alexei Navalny and the “repression” of opposition organisations, the spokesman added.
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While there was no breakthrough, discussions were “productive, constructive, respectful and honest”, a US official told journalists.
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