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In the coming week, the highest-level in-person U.S.-Russia talks since U.S. President Joe Biden took office will take place and Republic of Korea (ROK) President Moon Jae-in will visit the White House for talks with Biden.
Highest-level in-person U.S.-Russia talks since Biden took office
U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken and his Russian counterpart Sergey Lavrovare scheduled to meet during the Arctic Council Ministerial Meeting in Iceland on May 20.
In a phone call on May 12, they discussed their upcoming meeting and the potential to cooperate during Russia's subsequent Arctic Council's chairmanship.
Blinken called on Moscow to release two former U.S. Marines Paul Whelan and Trevor Reed, who are serving prison sentences in Russia. He also provided Lavrov with an overview of U.S. policy toward the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK), according to a State Department statement.
President Biden said on May 7 that
he expected to meet with Russian President Vladimir Putin
during a trip to Europe in June, when he will attend the Group of Seven Summit in Britain and then the NATO Summit in Brussels, Belgium.
Lavrov said on May 11 during his visit to Azerbaijan that Russia welcomes the initiative by the United States for holding a summit in June.
Relations between Washington and Moscow have been adversarial in recent years. The two were bitterly divided over Ukraine, human rights and cybersecurity issues, and they mutually accused the other of domestic political interference.
Fresh opportunity for DPRK when Moon meets Biden?
Moon Jae-in will visit the White House for talks with Biden on Friday and their talk topics include how to push forward efforts to stem DPRK's nuclear program, Moon's office and the White House said last month.
During his first White House news conference in March, Biden said that the DPRK was the top foreign policy issue for his administration and the White House said on March 15 that the new administration had reached out to Pyongyang through several channels but had not yet received any response.
Meanwhile, in a special address on May 10 to mark his four years in office, Moon vowed to restore dialogue with the DPRK, saying "it is the aspiration of 80 million Koreans to end the era of confrontation and conflict on the Korean Peninsula."
"Now, the time for long deliberations is also coming to an end. It is time to take action. The new (Joe) Biden administration in the United States has also
completed reviewing its North Korea (DPRK) policy
," Moon said.
"This visit, following the recent two-plus-two visit to Seoul by secretaries Blinken and Austin, and the national security advisers' trilateral meeting in Annapolis, will highlight the iron-clad U.S.-South Korea alliance and the longstanding ties and friendships between the people of our two countries," White House spokeswoman Jen Psaki said when announcing the summit.
Denuclearization talks between Pyongyang and Washington have stalled since the summit talks between DPRK leader Kim Jeong-eun and then U.S. President Donald Trump ended fruitless at the Vietnamese capital of Hanoi in February 2019.
Day by Day:
Monday: Former South African President Jacob Zuma goes on trial for corruption.
**Tuesday: **Tunisian President Kais Saied visits France.
Wednesday: Chinese State Councilor and Foreign Minister Wang Yi chairs U.N. Security Council meeting on causes of conflict and post-pandemic recovery in Africa; Kazakhstan's PresidentKasym-Jomart Tokayev makes an official visit to Tajikistan at the invitation of President Emomali Rahmon .
Thursday: Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov and U.S. Secretary of State **Antony Blinken **hold talks on the sidelines of an Arctic Council meeting in Reykjavik.
**Friday: **ROK President Moon Jae-in visits the White House for talks with U.S. President Joe Biden ;Italy hosts G20 summit on global health crisis.
**Saturday: **A quiet day in politics.
Sunday: Cyprus holds its House of Representatives election; 70th anniversary of peaceful liberation of Tibet, China.
