What happened?
On 7 December, US President Joe Biden and Russian President Vladimir Putin met in a video conference in a diplomatic effort to reduce the building tensions in the eastern border of Ukraine. 

The US National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan said: "President Biden was direct and straightforward with President Putin, as he always is. He reiterated America's support for Ukraine's sovereignty and territorial integrity. He told President Putin directly that if Russia further invades Ukraine, the United States and our European allies would respond with strong economic measures. He also told President Putin there's another option: de-escalation and diplomacy." 

The Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said: "I believe that Ukraine's victory is that the United States has always supported Ukraine, our sovereignty, our independence, and we enjoyed bipartisan support. But, most importantly, we now see that there is a personal, real reaction and role of President Biden in resolving this conflict, the war in the east of our country."

Russian President Putin refused to make a clear statement on the incursion of troops into Ukraine. However, he firmly said that Russia would not sit back while NATO grew stronger.

What is the background? 
First, the search for a Russia strategy by the US. The post-2014 US towards Russia began to shift when Trump wanted to strike a balance between sanctions and rapprochement with Putin and Russia. The Biden administration now continues this strategy. On the one hand, Biden held a virtual conference with Putin. On the other hand, Biden is also conducting a democracy summit and calling other democratic nations to defend democracy, with Russia and China in mind. 

Second, the China factor. With the rise of China and the growing closeness between Moscow and Beijing, the US is redrafting its foreign policy towards Russia and Putin. The Biden-Putin meeting for the US is a strategy to smoothen relations with Russia. To compete with China and for any UN-based approach, having Russia by its side is an advantage for the US.

Third, Ukraine as a trigger. Ukraine is only a spec in America's agenda, as the US aims to have positive relations and redraft its foreign policy towards Russia. For Ukraine, the meeting is not a breakthrough. 

What does this mean?
The virtual meet is timely as Russia assembles tens of thousands of its troops in the Ukrainian borders. For the US, the primary aim is to prevent Russia from joining hands with China, especially when the US might need Russia's support in the UN.