How Russia and US will come to the table
Two-track policy
Despite widespread pessimism among observers in Moscow and Washington, the current situation between Russia and the US is unfolding at what could be a potential turning point in the relationship.
Legvold said the Biden administration has articulated a two-track Russia policy－one that combines a determination to rebuff Russian behavior it sees as threatening, with a readiness to explore areas of cooperation important to both countries.
This is not that different from the policies pursued by the Obama and Trump administrations. However, because Biden has acted quickly to toughen policy, most observers assume that the "deterrence" side of policy will prevail, and the "detente" side will either remain largely rhetorical or be undermined by the way his government goes about countering Russian actions it finds objectionable, Levgold said.
There are hints of change that, if dealt with constructively by Moscow, could begin to lead the two countries out of their current dead end, even with Biden's national security adviser Jake Sullivan warning that the US would react in ways "seen and unseen", and not only with sanctions.
Russian experts view the possible summit between Biden and Putin as a sign of hope.
The country's Foreign Minister, Sergey Lavrov, said that despite Moscow's move to draw up a list of unfriendly countries, with the US at the top, Russia is positive about Biden's initiative.
Vladimir Vasilyev, Senior Research Fellow at the Russian Academy of Sciences' Institute for US and Canadian Studies, said: "By making the call, Biden initiated another round of the political chess game that previous US administrations used to play… At the same time, his invitation to meet in a third country is also a signal to Washington's allies, indicating that the current White House administration considers the Russian leader to be worthy of a handshake.
"It is also a sort of an apology for the vulgar statement that Joe Biden made in an interview with ABC News."
