Officials from the United States and Europe have initiated discussions with the Ukrainian government regarding the scope for peace talks with Russia, NBC News reports citing informed sources among current and former US officials.
"The conversations have included very broad outlines of what Ukraine might need to give up reaching a deal, the officials said," the publication reads.
Some of these discussions, described as sensitive by NBC News sources, took place during a meeting of the Ramstein format defense contact group in October.
They were initiated in response to growing concerns among US and European officials about the war reaching a stalemate, raising doubts if it is worth continuing to provide assistance to Ukraine.
Biden administration officials were also concerned about the depletion of Ukraine's military resources, especially when contrasted with what seems like an endless stream of Russian forces.
The Russian invasion of Ukraine has been garnered less public attention compared to the conflicts in the Middle East, which could affect the allocation of additional aid to Ukraine, as per the officials' assessments.
At the same time, the Biden administration believes that Russian President Vladimir Putin is not currently inclined toward negotiations with Ukraine and is still poised to continue the war, particularly if Kyiv's allies become less capable of providing support.
NBC News sources anticipate that more proactive discussions between Western officials and Kyiv regarding peace talks will gain momentum by the end of the year or in early 2024. To encourage Zelensky to engage in negotiations, NATO may extend security guarantees to Ukraine, even without the country's formal entry into the alliance.
EU Agrees to Use Frozen Russian Assets to Arm Ukraine
The Ukrainian side has consistently asserted that the war with Russia can only be concluded after the withdrawal of Russian troops from all occupied territories and the restoration of Ukrainian sovereignty within the internationally recognized borders of 1991, including Crimea.
Meanwhile, according to the latest survey conducted in Russia, 70% of Russians would support their president if he decided to end the war against Ukraine this week.
However, only one in three would support such a move if an end to the war meant returning all occupied Ukrainian territories.
The survey also found that, if they could go back in time and cancel Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine, only 41 percent of respondents would not have started the war.
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Comments (5)
The west has betrayed us by delaying all the important military weapons we begged for. The summer of 2023 counter offensive failed, the war is over courtesy of the west.
Remember, Russia is a strong ally of both Hamas & Iran. Highly likely the Hamas attacks in Israel/Palestine are part of a geopolitical play to overwhelm Western Democracies & get them to push Ukraine into a stalemate.
Rather than giving Ukraine the weapons it needs to win, thus countering Putin & Iran's play, Biden & Scholz are cautiously walking right into Putin's plans.
Ukraine needs to help its allies understand this...but it also needs to engage the American public to help them understand this. I'll be there with you if you do.
What Ukrainians should know is that there is a strong anti-war sentiment in the US. This sentiment is located in the Northeast. In 1815, the New England states threatened to secede from the Union because they opposed the War of 1812. Look up "Hartford Convention" on Wikipedia. They opposed the Mexican-American War of 1812. You know that America stayed out of WW's I and II because of isolationist elements in our politics. Back in April this year, private individuals at the Council on Foreign Relations in NY City met with Sergei Lavrov to discuss negotiations. The Biden Administration says they weren't involved. But anti-war elements tried to box Ukraine into a negotiating position. Our media broadcasts and writes for these elements because they live in a region of 100 million people. That's worth a lot to advertisers. So NBC quotes anonymous sources to write this story. Don't you think it's important in order to judge the accuracy of this story that we know who these people are? We'll see about funding for future aid to Ukraine, but until we fail to give that aid, I'd take these kinds of defeatist stories with a grain of salt. American proponents of negotiation don't care if Putin keeps Donbas and Crimea. They don't care if he pays reparations or if his war criminals are not required to face justice. All that would go by the wayside if they convince the US government to get you to negotiate. I am American. Slava Ukrainii.
Very frustrating to hear. Give Ukraine the weapons it needs to win. & stop worrying about what will become if Putin & Russia collapse...They're already causing enormous problems for the world...NOW.
It took over 5 years to defeat WW2s superpower Germany. Dictatorship is vulnerable, Ukraine is strong. A conduit for the free world to keep a stranglehold on and weaken, to collapse, of an oppressive regime who violate the rights of free thinking peoples all over the world.