Washington does not believe that Russian President Putin is interested in serious peace negotiations. Despite this, US diplomats are hoping that Kyiv will give up its staunch refusal to talk to the Kremlin about an end to the war. The reason is the “Ukraine fatigue” in some countries.
US President Biden’s administration has unofficially encouraged the Ukrainian leadership to signal readiness for negotiations with Russia. Ukraine should end its public refusal to participate in peace talks with Russian President Vladimir Putin, the Washington Post reports, citing people familiar with the talks.
According to the newspaper, the urging of American officials is not aimed at forcing Ukraine to the negotiating table. Rather, it is said to be a calculated attempt to secure the support of other allies for Kyiv, whose citizens fear a war lasting many years.
The US officials would share the assessment of their Ukrainian counterparts that Putin is currently not interested in serious negotiations. Still, Zelenskyi’s refusal to hold talks with Putin would raise grave concern in parts of Europe, Africa and Latin America, where the war’s impact on the cost of living is being felt most severely. “Ukraine fatigue is a real problem for some of our partners,” the Washington Post quoted a US official familiar with the matter as saying. The White House National Security Council and the State Department initially did not respond to requests for comment on the report.
In the weeks following the Russian invasion, Zelenskyi put forward proposals for a negotiated peace, including Ukrainian neutrality and the return of territories occupied by Russia since that date. However, after the systematic atrocities committed by Russian soldiers became known, as well as due to the air strikes on civilian targets and the annexation of occupied territories by the Kremlin in violation of international law, Kiev’s position has hardened.
Putin himself does not seem to have turned away from his maximum demands. Just last month, he reiterated that Russians and Ukrainians are one people, arguing that Russia can be “the only real and serious guarantor of Ukraine’s statehood, sovereignty and territorial integrity.”
“If Russia wins, we will see a period of chaos: tyranny blooming, wars, genocides, nuclear races,” warned Ukraine’s presidential aide Mykhailo Podoliak on Friday. “Any ‘concessions’ to Putin today – a deal with the devil. You won’t like his price.”
