By IANS/RIA Novosti,
Moscow : Russian President Vladimir Putin and his US counterpart Barack Obama will continue efforts to improve bilateral ties and sign an agreement on future cooperation at the G20 summit in Mexico in June, a Russian official said.
“A meeting is planned for the presidents of Russia and the US at the Los Cabos G20 summit. This will be a full-scale meeting, in the course of which important agreements will be made, in particular a presidential joint declaration on further cooperation. This has been agreed,” said Putin’s foreign policy advisor Yury Ushakov.
Putin and Obama exchanged messages earlier this month, in which the two leaders reiterated “a mutual desire to expand and deepen bilateral relations and upgrading them to a qualitatively new level”, he said.
Putin’s message, in response to Obama’s letter of May 2, was delivered to the US by Russian Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev, who stood in for Putin at a summit of G8 leaders May 18-19, Ushakov said.
Moscow would like to continue along the lines of Medvedev’s much-publicised “reset” policy with the US, which saw both sides sign a landmark nuclear arms control treaty in 2010, he said.
Russia will pursue “kind, promising ties” with Washington if both sides maintain a policy of “equality and non-involvement” in the other’s affairs, he added.
Both Putin and Obama enjoyed their last meeting in summer 2009, Ushakov said.
“They talked about a lot of different things for over two hours and both enjoyed it. So now I’m sure they will find a common language,” he said.