Russia, US must mend ties: Putin

Addressing the 24th St. Petersburg International Economic Forum on Friday, Putin said that he plans to discuss strategic stability, international conflict settlement, cooperation against Covid-19, arms control, anti-terrorism, and climate change with US President Joe Biden during their first summit in Geneva on June 16.

"To a certain extent, Russian-American relations have become hostage to internal political processes in the US. But I hope this will end someday," Xinhua news agency quoted Putin as saying during a plenary session of the forum.

"Fundamental interests in the fields of security, strategic stability and arms reduction are still more important than the current domestic political situation in the US," he added.

Relations between Washington and Moscow have been adversarial in recent years.

The two sides have obvious differences on issues related to Ukraine, cybersecurity, human rights, and US election interference.

The much-anticipated Russia-US summit in a third country was first proposed by Biden during a telephone conversation with Putin on April 13, according to the Kremlin.