Pavel Baev: The Arctic prelude to a ‘stabilization’ summit

The meeting between U.S. State Secretary Antony Blinken and Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov in Reykjavik, Iceland, last week (May 19) was not supposed to resolve any disagreements, but it did clarify them (see EDM, May 20). Primarily, their extensive conversation was ostensibly focused on preparing the agenda for the summit proposed by President Joseph Biden but not as yet confirmed by President Vladimir Putin (Nezavisimaya Gazeta, May 20). The two foreign policy chiefs did not hold a joint media appearance after the meeting, but Lavrov did his diplomatic best to emphasize the “constructive” character of the talks, while the State Department presented a long list of contentious issues (Kommersant, May 20). The summit is provisionally scheduled for mid-June when Biden will travel to Europe for the G7 event and the meeting of North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) heads of state and government. Putin might feel excluded from these crucial deliberations, but the main reservation is that he still prefers to hold meetings in the virtual format, from the safety of his residences (Kommersant, May 22).

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