US-Russia relations are so poor that only a summit can sort them out, Putin's spokesman says

Russian President Vladimir Putin is going to Geneva, Switzerland, not merely to appear on the same platform as US President Joe Biden, but because "the poor state of relations" between both countries demands a summit, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told CNN in an exclusive interview on Friday.

"The main reason for him [to go] is the poor state of the relationship between our two countries. And a critical level of this relationship that demands a summit between our two countries because this is the only way ... to prevent further degradation of our dialogue," Peskov told CNN. Next week's high-stakes summit in Geneva comes as relations between both nations hit recent new lows in the first few months of the Biden administration.