Russia warns US to wait for "uncomfortable" signals

“The Americans must assume that a number of signals from Moscow … will be uncomfortable for them, including in the coming days,” Sergei Ryabkov, Russia’s deputy foreign minister, was quoted as saying by the RIA news agency, according to al-Jazeera.

Ryabkov said Russia would be prepared to respond to Biden’s queries about human rights in Russia and said that Moscow was being more flexible than Washington when it came to drawing up an agenda for the summit, RIA reported.

The comments by the Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov came a day after US President Joe Biden said he would press Russian President Vladimir Putin to respect human rights when the two leaders meet in Geneva on June 16.

Relations between the two powers are at post-Cold War lows and the meeting next month will be the first between the two leaders since Biden assumed office in January.