Some US allies near Russia are wary of Biden-Putin summit

(AP) Countries in Central and Eastern Europe are anxious about the coming summit meeting between U.S. President Joe Biden and Russian President Vladimir Putin.

Some worry that Washington could scale down support for its allies in the region in order to secure a more stable and predictable relationship with Russia. Ukraine is especially wary, fearing that agreements between Biden and Putin could weaken its strategic importance.

Moscow has rejected allegations that it is trying to destabilize those former Soviet and Warsaw Pact nations. It has accused them of “Russophobia” and cast them as key instigators of Western sanctions that limit Moscow’s access to global capital markets and restricted imports of modern technology.