Putin says wants to find ways with Biden to improve ties

Putin says wants to find ways with Biden to improve ties

SAINT PETERSBURG: Russian President Vladimir Putin said Friday he hoped to improve deeply damaged relations with the United States when he holds his first summit with US counterpart Joe Biden later this month. The face-to-face meeting in Geneva on June 16 comes amid the biggest crisis in ties between the two countries in years, with tensions high over a litany of issues including hacking allegations, human rights and claims of election meddling.

"We need to find ways to regularise these relations,“ Putin told the Saint Petersburg International Economic Forum, adding that bilateral ties are currently at a "low level“. Usually joined at the forum's main session by other world leaders, the Russian president was alone on the stage on Friday with a moderator and Austrian Chancellor Sebastian Kurz and Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al-Thani, the emir of Qatar, participating via videolink.

"We have no disagreements with the United States,“ Putin said. "They only have one disagreement: they want to hold back our development, they talk about it publicly.“ Speaking to Russia's Channel One television later in the day, Putin said he did not expect any breakthrough in Geneva but said it would be good to discuss topics of mutual interest.

"I expect a