Putin, Biden discuss war in Donbas in first telephone call

Russian President Putin called U.S President Joe Biden
on Jan. 26 to discuss the armed conflict in Ukraine among other topics, Putin
spokesman Dmitry Peskov said the next day, as reported by the Interfax news
agency. While the Kremlin referred to the conflict as “an internal Ukrainian
resolution process” on its website, it was labeled “Russian aggression” by
Biden spokeswoman Jen Psaki. “The used phrases precisely reflect the positions
of the sides, and, of course, the difference in presentation speaks to serious
divergences in that regard,” Peskov said. The conversation was the first
between the two leaders since Biden’s inauguration and lasted more than 30
minutes, Peskov said.

The Putin-Biden conversation appears ideal for
Ukraine’s geopolitical interests, Mykhaylo Podoliak, an adviser to the head of
the President’s Office, told the pravda.com.ua news site on Jan. 27. “This
signifies a key priority of the new administration, its own kind of signal: we
are returning to a world daily agenda with traditional values and traditional
harshness against those who violate rules. And though the formal reason was in
regards to the topics of strategic disarmament, its contents were, to put it
lightly, far wider and plentiful and looks ideal for Ukraine’s interests,”
Podoliak said.

Russia has only one chance for “at least some minimal
normal relations with America and the civilized world,” which is a complete
halt to its aggressive policies, Podoliak said. The first priority in that
regard is halting aggression against Ukraine and returning all territory
occupied by Russia, he said. Biden stressed this “very clearly, substantially
and systemically,” Podoliak commented.

Zenon Zawada: There will be no new understanding regarding Ukraine between the Putin
regime and the Biden administration. The only thing that may possibly change
the current landscape in Ukraine is Putin’s departure as Russian president, or
the emergence of a pro-Russian regime in Ukraine. We view the latter as having
a greater likelihood, not better than 50%, but entirely possible.