JRL NEWSWATCH: “Russian elite hope Biden summit will boost foreign ties” – Financial Times
“Better western relations are high on the wishlist at annual St. Petersburg forum, the country’s answer to Davos.”
“… Biden and Putin will meet in Geneva … June 16 … at a summit pitched at ‘normalising’ relations between the west and Moscow. Ties have steadily eroded … the past seven years because of allegations of Russian election meddling, tit-for-tat sanctions and diplomatic expulsions, the conflict in Ukraine and … Moscow’s support for … Belarus after it forced a passenger plane to land and arrested a dissident …. Putin has stood by … Lukashenko, hosting him … and agreeing to … $500m in loans to Minsk, in response to [EU and U.S.] sanctions ….”