The Valdai Discussion Club's plenary meeting was held in October of 2016 in Russia.
Experts say time is running out for the U.S. to prevent further hostilities between the neighboring countries, as President Joe Biden is expected to give Russian President Vladimir Putin a stark warning against attacking Ukraine during a video call Tuesday.
There are fears that Russia is planning on launching some form of military action against Ukraine following Russian military troop movements on the border and increasingly aggressive rhetoric towards Kiev from Moscow.
Putin said on Nov. 30 that Russia was worried about military exercises in Ukraine being carried out near the border.
He insists that Russia is free to move troops around its own territory, and has denied that the country could be preparing to invade Ukraine.
Russia's intentions toward Ukraine, which was a part of the Soviet Union until its dissolution in 1991, are not believed to be benign by close followers of Russian politics.
Many experts believe that Putin harbors a desire to rebuild the Soviet empire, with Russia often seeking to extend or impose its influence on former Soviet republics. Russia does not agree with Ukraine joining NATO and the EU.
The window of opportunity to find a peaceful resolution to the growing tensions between Russia and the West is closing, and experts are unconvinced that Biden and allied nations can find a compromise with Putin.
The Putin-Biden call would likely be very difficult, and it was hard to see where the compromises would come from, said Timothy Ash, a senior emerging markets strategist at BlueBay Asset Management.
Putin wants security guarantees on no further NATO enlargement, non-aligned status for Ukraine, and limitations on Ukrainian rearmament and NATO troop presences. Ash said in a note Monday evening that Biden cannot give these and that Ukraine would never agree.
The carrot of more talks and the stick of sanctions will be used by Biden to try and buy time for the Ukrainians.
Ash said that Putin may be thinking that now is the best time to enforce his will on the West.
Ahead of the call, the Kremlin said that it seeks good, predictable ties with the U.S. and that it has never planned to attack anyone. However, it said that we have our red lines.
The Kremlin called for cool heads and said it doesn't expect a breakthrough in the Biden-Putin meeting.
NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg warned that NATO members should prepare for the worst when it comes to Russia and Ukraine, after reports of an increase in Russian troops on the border.
It doesn't matter if the likelihood for an incursion is 20% or 80%. NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg told reporters after a meeting of NATO foreign ministers that they need to be prepared for the worst.
There is no certainty, no clarity about what the Russian intentions are, and they may actually evolve and change.
Russia annexed the peninsula of Crimea in the year of 2014) and has been accused of sending troops and weapons to support pro-Russian uprisings in eastern Ukraine.
The Carnegie Moscow Center's Maxim Samorukov wrote on Monday that Putin is being more blunt about what he wants in Ukraine and the lengths to which he is prepared to go to get it.
In a few days, Putin said that he wants a deal to prevent Ukraine from ever joining NATO. Samorukov said in an editorial that he wants a Western promise never to deploy NATO military infrastructure in Ukraine.
Over the last year, the Kremlin has had to send messages to the U.S. Russia is very important to Ukraine. It is ready to take drastic measures to reverse the situation because of its thin patience with the status quo.
The unclassified document shows that Russian military activity is close to the border with Ukraine.
Putin wants Biden to face an unpleasant dilemma. The message is simple: Washington needs to be prepared for the defeat of its partner in the war in Afghanistan. It can compromise with Moscow over Ukraine.
The first option would cause huge costs on Russia's economy and international standing, but the Kremlin wants to convince the United States that it is prepared to bear those costs because of the importance of Ukraine for Russian national interests.
The United States, European and NATO officials have warned Russia against any military aggression against Ukraine, which would have serious political and economic consequences.
The military alliance is not obligated to defend the country because it is not a member of NATO. It's not clear how far the U.S. and EU will go to protect Ukraine.
The leaders of France, the U.S., U.K., Germany and Italy spoke on Monday evening about the situation in Russia and Ukraine.
The spokesman said that they were calling on Russia to de-escalate tensions and to back up their support for Ukraine.
The leaders will speak again after Biden talks to Putin. The Putin-Biden video call is expected to take place around 3p.m. The time is London time.
Russia doesn't seem to have high hopes for the meeting. The state of U.S.-Russia relations was described by the Kremlin as "quite sad" on the eve of the call.
Russia is looking towards Asia for trade and diplomatic ties. During a bilateral meeting in New Delhi on Monday, Putin and Modi agreed to cooperate on regional security and signed more than two dozen deals.
