Kremlin: Sanctions won’t ‘help’ Putin-Biden potential summit

Moscow, April 15: The Kremlin said Thursday that planned US sanctions against Russia in retaliation for alleged election interference and hacking will not “help” a potential summit between Russian President Vladimir Putin and his United States counterpart Joe Biden.

Biden in a phone call with Putin on Tuesday invited him to hold a summit on neutral ground, as tensions between the West and Russia have escalated in recent weeks over the

KREMLIN SPOKESMAN Dmitry Peskov told reporters that it will be up to Putin and Biden to decide whether the summit will still go ahead.

conflict in Ukraine.

United States media on Thursday reported that Washington announced sanctions affecting more than 30 Russian entities, expelling more than 10 Russian diplomats from the United States and expanding an existing ban on United States banks trading in Russian government debt.

“What is currently being discussed — likely sanctions — will in no way help such a meeting. That is unambiguous,” Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters, while referring to the proposed summit.

He said, however, that it will be up to Putin and Biden to decide whether the summit will still go ahead.