US, Russia to hold high-level talks in Geneva

Biden and Putin met in Geneva on June 16. They agreed their two countries should continue talks on arms control and risk reduction. Keystone / Peter Klaunzer

The Strategic Stability Dialogue to which United States President Joe Biden and his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin committed when they met in Geneva last month will take place in the same city next week.

The two leaders had agreed to have a “deliberate and robust dialogue […] that will seek to lay the groundwork for future arms control and risk reduction measures,” the US State Department said in a statement Friday announcing the talks.

The American delegation to the July 28 meeting will be led by Deputy Secretary of State Wendy Sherman and will include Bonnie Jenkins, recently confirmed as Under Secretary of State for Arms Control and International Security.

The bilateral dialogue comes amid tensions on several fronts between the two countries, with Washington threatening Moscow with action if Russia does not stop a wave of cyberattacks that US officials say originate largely from its territory. Russia has denied responsibility.

Sherman will meet with Russian officials just a week after conducting a similar mission to China aimed, according to the State Department, at ensuring that there are “safeguards” in the increasingly hostile relationship between Washington and Beijing.