The Kremlin has refused to comment on media reports that high-level talks between the US and Russia have taken place.
The Kremlin has declined to comment on a Wall Street Journal report alleging the United States held secret talks with senior Russian officials to avoid further escalation in the Ukraine war.
According to the report, US National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan spoke to advisers to President Vladimir Putin in hopes of reducing the risk of a major war or nuclear conflict.
“We have nothing to say about this publication,” Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters on Monday.
The newspaper reported that US officials said Sullivan had been in contact with Yuri Ushakov, a foreign policy adviser to Putin, and Security Council Secretary Nikolai Patrushev.
Municipal workers clear debris outside a shell-damaged railway administration headquarters in Donetsk, Ukraine [Alexander Ermochenko/Reuters]
Peskov also declined to comment on a Washington Post report over the weekend that said the US had privately encouraged Ukraine to negotiate with Russia.
“We have nothing to say about this release,” Peskov said.
“I reiterate that there are some truthful reports, but for the most part there are reports that are pure speculation,” he said, directing journalists to contact the White House or the newspaper itself.
Meanwhile, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said he sees no room for negotiations with Russia, an option he officially ruled out after Russia held illegal referendums that led to the “annexation” of four Ukrainian regions in September.
Zelenskyy has said he can negotiate with a new Russian president whenever one appears.
The Ukrainian public, which has suffered enormously in the last eight months of the war, is often outraged when foreign figures suggest accepting the current state of the conflict and giving in to Russia’s demands.
Recently, tech billionaire Elon Musk tweeted a plan to end the war that would hand Crimea to Russia and hold UN-organized referenda in the four regions annexed by Moscow on whether Russia stays or leaves.
Musk has been slammed for it, but a lack of negotiations is a cause for concern among international powers.
“Ukraine fatigue is a real thing for some of our partners,” an anonymous US official reportedly told the Washington Post.
As Tuesday’s U.S. midterm elections draw closer, polls show support for Ukraine is waning among Republican voters, meaning the continuation of aid could be at risk.
According to a Wall Street Journal poll, 48 percent of Republicans said the US was doing “too much” to support Ukraine.
With global inflation rates soaring, new questions have been raised about the future of US aid, which has already reached $18.2 billion.
Other nations, which have so far been reluctant to provide external support to Ukraine, may also push for more peace talks if the war continues.
Zelenskyy has refused to speak to Russia unless Ukraine regains all of its captured territory, but US officials believe the Ukrainian leader is likely to be open to negotiations in the winter, according to The Washington Post.