According to Reuters, in late 2023 and early 2024, Russian intermediaries reached out to US officials seeking to establish a ceasefire. The Kremlin was hoping to freeze the fighting along the current lines of control. “The contacts with the Americans came to nothing,” an unnamed senior Russian official told the outlet.

Russian officials said some progress was made, and National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan agreed to a call with his counterpart in the Kremlin. Putin’s adviser, Yuri Ushakov, suggested the idea of a ceasefire to Sullivan, but Sullivan refused to talk about Ukraine.

Putin has also suggested talks during public remarks, including in his interview with Tucker Carlson.

US officials speaking with Reuters said there was no formal contact with Russian negotiators and stressed that Washington would not engage in talks with Moscow without Kiev. However, some admitted that Russian officials had floated talks in an unofficial manner.

The Joe Biden administration has steadfastly refused to engage in talks with the Kremlin. Before the war in Ukraine broke out, Moscow sent Washington the outlines of a deal to prevent the war. A Biden admin staffer later acknowledged that the White House refused to negotiate with Russia on Putin’s top issues, including NATO military buildup in Eastern Europe and the alliance’s expansion to Ukraine.

During the first two months of the war, Moscow and Kiev engaged in talks hosted by US allies Turkey and Israel. Russian, Ukrainian, Turkish, and Israeli officials have all confirmed that a deal was nearly reached; however, the US and UK pushed Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky to forgo a deal with Putin.

Washington’s current refusal to talk with Moscow comes as the war is going poorly for Kiev, with Ukrainian forces losing significant territory to Russia in recent months. Additionally, Kiev lacks the manpower and ammunition to mount an effective defense.

Director of National Intelligence Avril Haines told Congress on Monday that Ukraine’s military weaknesses have been exposed. “Ukraine’s retreat from Avdiivka and their struggle to stave off further territorial losses in the past few weeks have exposed the erosion of Ukraine’s military capabilities with the declining availability of external military aid,” she said.

CIA Director William Burns also issued a dire assessment of the conflict, saying the Ukrainians “are not running out of courage and tenacity. They’re running out of ammunition. And we’re running out of time to help them.”

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Kyle Anzalone is the opinion editor of antiwar.com, news editor of the Libertarian Institute, and co-host of Conflicts of Interest.

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