LOC09:40
06:40 GMT
By Adeeb Al-Sayed
MOSCOW, July 14 (KUNA) -- While the upcoming summit between Presidents Vladimir Putin and Donald Trump in Helsinki, Finland, on July 16, seems to provide a breakthrough in the long-stagnant Russia-US relations, the Russians themselves appear to lower expectations for the grand event.
Russian figures such as Foreign Ministry spokesperson Maria Zakharova said in a press statement that a drastic shift in her country's relation with the US should not be expected at the upcoming summit.
A similar view was shared by Presidential spokesperson Dimiri Peskov who stressed that the world should not be waiting for the leaders to strike a substantial agreement that alter the shape of relations.
This kind of rhetoric appears to go in line with the exchange between Washington and Moscow in the past few years, which led to diplomatic and political rows and upheavals.
However, the Russians are not lowering their interest in the event especially if their side did not waiver on issues connected with the Syrian conflict in addition to the crisis in eastern Ukraine and Crimea.
Knowing that the numerous commercial and economic sanctions did not deter them from changing their position on various regional and global issues, the Russians are glad that such fact had somehow had an effect on Trump's calls to bring back Russia to the group of industrial states, the G7.
Meanwhile, both Russia and the US claim to have the upper hand militarily. Moscow says that it had a missile system that surpasses the ones sold to US military allies, deeming the systems as a financial liability to states harboring American-made long-range weapons.
Russia might demand from the US to lower its military presences near its western borders during the course of the Russia-Trump meeting.
The summit will surely touch on issues such as the denuclearization of North Korea, the Iranian nuclear file, as well as issues and conflicts in the Middle East and North African (MENA) region and other parts of the world namely the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, Syria war, terrorism in Afghanistan. (end)
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