Russia’s Vladimir Putin is set to chat by phone with President Joe Biden on late on Thursday night Russian time after requesting further discussion with the American leader ahead of bilateral talks on Jan. 10. The Kremlin said Putin would speak with Biden just shy of midnight Moscow time, at 11:30 p.m. “The initiative for the conversation was that of Vladimir Putin. The time is absolutely normal considering the time difference [between the U.S. and Russia]. There are no issues here–a later time has never been a problem for the Russian president, and he sometimes works very actively at this time,” spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters. While a spokesperson for the U.S. National Security Council said the two leaders are expected to discuss “a range of topics,” the Kremlin made clear they want to discuss the list of demands Russia has set for the West in regards to NATO and Ukraine. “In Putin’s view, the need has arisen for another telephone conversation that will set the stage for negotiations over the aforementioned [proposals to the U.S.],” Peskov said. The office of Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has signaled that they too are expecting a word with Biden after he speaks to Putin, with spokesman Serhiy Nikiforov saying Thursday that it would be a “logical and expected step,” according to UNIAN.
