Biden and Putin to talk about Ukraine on Dec. 7

U.S. President Joe Biden and Russian President
Vladimir Putin will hold a secure video dialog on Dec. 7, whitehouse.gov
announced on Dec. 4. The presidents will discuss issues ranging from strategic
stability, cyber, and regional issues. “President Biden will underscore U.S.
concerns with Russian military activities on the border with Ukraine and
reaffirm the United States’ support for the sovereignty and territorial
integrity of Ukraine”, the announcement reads.

The announcement comes after a contentious attempt at diplomacy
between U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken and Russian Foreign Minister
Sergey Lavrov on Dec. 2. Initial reports were of a terse meeting, only 30
minutes long, after which both sides stated independently that they had been
heard and that they had agreed to continue talking regarding Ukraine. However,
on Dec. 5., news broke of a verbal clash between Blinken and Lavrov over
Ukraine at the OSCE dinner on Dec. 1.

James Hydzik: Some analysts
have been calling the Russian military buildup an attempt to bully Biden into
talking with Putin while scaring the EU into submission. Tuesday’s call will
test that proposition, and the proof will come not in the form of
announcements, but in reports on Russian troop numbers in south-west Russia.
Reports over the last two weeks have raised the total from 90,000 to 94,000,
and unless the trend changes, the call will have been of little consequence.