Biden talks with Zelensky after Putin call

U.S. President Joe Biden spoke with Ukrainian President
Volodymyr Zelensky on Jan. 2, to discuss the results of Biden’s Dec. 30 call
with Russian president Vladimir Putin and subsequent calls with NATO and
European leaders.

Biden and Zelensky talked for about 90 minutes,
compared to less than an hour for Biden’s communication with Putin. Biden
reiterated the U.S. and Ukraine’s other allies’ commitment to the precept of
“no decisions about Ukraine without Ukraine”. Besides focusing on the issues
along Ukraine’s borders, Biden and Zelensky spoke about the fight against
corruption, pravda.com.ua reported.

James Hydzik: There are
two points to keep in mind related to the call. First, as U.S. Embassy in
Ukraine press attaché Daniel Lagenkamp explained recently, Biden speaks to
other European and NATO leaders before talking to Zelensky to ensure that he’s
speaking on their behalf with a united view, kyivpost.com reported on Jan. 3.
Ukrainian political commentators had been pointing to the lag and Lagenkamp’s
interview on Islnd.tv was focused on answering this and other communications
points.

Second, the White House has not forgotten the
reform issue, and is not likely to forget any time soon. The failure to make the final decision on the Special Anti-corruption Prosecutor is
likely to be a feature of every phone call between Biden and Zelensky for the
foreseeable future.