The Biden administration is “privately” encouraging Kyiv to demonstrate a readiness to negotiate with Russia, The Washington Post reported, citing people familiar with the discussions.
Mediation began at the end of February this year after the start of the war in Ukraine. The last round of the negotiations concluded in Istanbul on 29 March. The talks have been stalled since, despite the efforts by UN. According to the newspaper, the United States does not want Ukraine to start negotiations with Russia, but, instead, aims to ensure that Kyiv has the support of other countries.
“Ukraine fatigue is a real thing for some of our partners,” one US official told The Washington Post.
The report states that concerns are mounting in parts of Europe, Africa, and Latin America, as food and fuel prices are rising amid Russia’s ongoing “special operation” in Ukraine.
Earlier in September, Russian President Vladimir Putin said that Moscow was still open to talks with Kyiv and called on Ukraine to stop the hostilities. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, in turn, said that Kyiv was ready for dialogue with Moscow, but only if another president came to power in Russia.
The Kremlin responded saying that Moscow would wait for a change in the stance of Ukraine’s current president or his successor. The report comes after US National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan met Zelenskyy in Kyiv on Friday to ‘underscore’ Washington’s support amid the escalation of the war in Ukraine. Sullivan affirmed that the United States will continue with the economic and humanitarian assistance and ongoing efforts with partners to hold Russia accountable for its aggression. The recent surge in Russian attacks has resulted in massive blackouts. Besides this, Kyiv residents are under severe water shortages as one of the strikes hit an energy facility that powered 350,000 apartments in the capital, CNN reported.
In total, the United States has now committed more than USD 18.9 billion in security assistance to Ukraine since the beginning of the Biden Administration.
