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Putin’s D.C. Masterplan

Now that Biden is president, Putin seems to want to make sure that his point of view and priorities are considered, too; that he is seen as an equal and as someone to be reckoned with. To do that, he has imposed himself on the news cycle—and into the White House’s priorities, with plenty of tricks up his sleeve.

Vladimir Putin
Photo by Konstantin Zavrazhin/Getty Images
Julia Ioffe
December 9, 2021

On Tuesday, Presidents Joe Biden and Vladimir Putin spoke for more than two hours over video conference to discuss the massive buildup of Russia’s military forces on its border with Ukraine. The call came together quickly after the Kremlin made it known that it expected a conversation between Biden and Putin by the end of the year, implying that all the other contacts from American officials—National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan, Secretary of State Antony Blinken, C.I.A. director Bill Burns—were not enough. Instead, Putin got another bilateral meeting with Biden, his second in six months.