Biden virtually meets with Putin in 'high-stakes diplomatic effort' at staving off crisis in Ukraine


President Biden is virtually meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin Tuesday morning in a "high-stakes diplomatic effort" at de-escalating a crisis between Ukraine and Russia and easing fears of a Kremlin-led invasion of Kyiv, reports The New York Times.
The conference, which began around 10 a.m., is intended to "reaffirm the United States' support for the sovereignty and territorial integrity of Ukraine," Biden has said, per the Times. The president does not, however, have any desire to send troops into battle on Ukraine's behalf. Putin, on the other hand, believes Ukraine's relationship with the U.S. and Western European powers is "posing a threat to Russia," only with whom he feels the "true sovereignty of Ukraine is possible," reports The Washington Post.
Biden's task of preventing a "European land war that could turn into a full-blown transatlantic crisis," per the Post, is just one of several crises threatening the president ahead of the administration's inaugural Summit for Democracy from Dec. 9 to 10. In addition to preventing a Russian invasion of Ukraine, Biden must consider "continuing Chinese pressure on Taiwan and the potential collapse of Iran nuclear talks," writes The Wall Street Journal; each issue "has the potential to shake the world order and produce wider conflict."
Subscribe to The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
In any event, the Russia call will be a major test for the so-called foreign policy president, who's already on shaky ground with the American public following August's chaotic withdrawal from Afghanistan, notes The Daily Beast. Biden's plan is to deter Putin from invading using economic sanctions and other measures, but even that will be a "difficult needle to thread."
Sign up for Today's Best Articles in your inbox
A free daily email with the biggest news stories of the day – and the best features from TheWeek.com
Brigid Kennedy worked at The Week from 2021 to 2023 as a staff writer, junior editor and then story editor, with an interest in U.S. politics, the economy and the music industry.
-
Prevost elected first US pope, becomes Leo XIV
speed read Cardinal Robert Francis Prevost is a Chicago native who spent decades living in Peru
-
'Art is one of humanity's great empathic mediums'
Instant Opinion Opinion, comment and editorials of the day
-
Today's political cartoons - May 9, 2025
Cartoons Friday's cartoons - India-Pakistan tensions, pope hopeful, and more
-
Fed leaves rates unchanged as Powell warns on tariffs
speed read The Federal Reserve says the risks of higher inflation and unemployment are increasing under Trump's tariffs
-
Denmark to grill US envoy on Greenland spying report
speed read The Trump administration ramped up spying on Greenland, says reporting by The Wall Street Journal
-
Supreme Court allows transgender troop ban
speed read The US Supreme Court will let the Trump administration begin executing its ban on transgender military service members
-
Hollywood confounded by Trump's film tariff idea
speed read President Trump proposed a '100% tariff' on movies 'produced in foreign lands'
-
Trump offers migrants $1,000 to 'self-deport'
speed read The Department of Homeland Security says undocumented immigrants can leave the US in a more 'dignified way'
-
Trump is not sure he must follow the Constitution
speed read When asked about due process for migrants in a TV interview, President Trump said he didn't know whether he had to uphold the Fifth Amendment
-
Trump judge bars deportations under 1798 law
speed read A Trump appointee has ruled that the president's use of a wartime act for deportations is illegal
-
Trump ousts Waltz as NSA, taps him for UN role
speed read President Donald Trump removed Mike Waltz as national security adviser and nominated him as U.S. ambassador to the United Nations