Moscow: Russian President Vladimir Putin's suggestion for a ceasefire in the nearly two-year-long war in Ukraine was rejected by the United States after contacts between intermediaries, three Russian sources with knowledge of the discussions told Reuters. However, a US source denied there had been any official contact and said Washington would not engage in talks that did not involve Ukraine.
According to the sources, Putin sent signals to Washington in 2023 in public and privately through intermediaries, including through Moscow's Arab partners in the Middle East and others, that he was ready to consider a ceasefire in Ukraine. Putin was proposing to halt the conflict at the current lines and was unwilling to cede any of the Ukrainian territory controlled by Russia, but the signal offered what some saw as the best path towards a peace.
This report comes in the face of the approaching third year of the deadliest conflict in Europe since World War Two, which intensified the rivalry between Russia and major Western countries, including the US. "The contacts with the Americans came to nothing," a senior Russian source with knowledge of the discussions in late 2023 and early 2024.
A second Russian source with knowledge of the contacts told Reuters that the Americans told Moscow, via the intermediaries, they would not discuss a possible ceasefire without the participation of Ukraine and so the contacts ended in failure. A third source with knowledge of the discussions said: "Everything fell apart with the Americans." The source said that the Americans did not want to pressure Ukraine.
Kremlin's response
However, the Kremlin on Wednesday denied the Reuters report that Russian President Vladimir Putin proposed a ceasefire in Ukraine. Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said, "No. It is not true" when asked whether Moscow had made peace proposals to Washington.
Meanwhile, a US official said the Biden administration has not engaged in any back channel discussions with Russia and that Washington had been consistent in not going behind the back of Ukraine. The official said there appeared to have been unofficial "Track II" conversations among Russians not in the government but that the United States was not engaged in them.
The official also suggested that there appeared to be frustration in Moscow that Washington had repeatedly refused to accept Russia's past demands in Ukraine.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy says he will never accept Russia's control over Ukrainian land. He has outlawed any contacts with Russia, maintaining that it is fighting for its existence. One of the Russian sources expressed frustration with the United States over Washington's insistence that it would not nudge Ukraine towards talks given that the United States was helping to fund the war.
"The Americans didn't believe Putin was genuine about a ceasefire - but he was and is - he is ready to discuss a ceasefire. But equally Putin is also ready to fight on for as long as it takes - and Russia can fight for as long as it takes," said a Russian source. The Kremlin sees little point in further contacts with the United States on the issue, the Russian sources said, so the war would continue.
Putin ready to negotiate on Ukraine
In an interview with American TV host Tucker Carlson, Russian President Vladimir Putin said he was ready to negotiate with Ukraine to end the nearly two-year-long war and urged Washington to recognise Moscow's interests and persuade Kyiv to sit down for talks. Putin also claimed that Ukraine had made a significant mistake by rejecting his calls for negotiations for a truce.
Putin reiterated that his invasion of Ukraine, which Kyiv and its allies described as an unprovoked act of aggression, was necessary to protect Russian speakers in Ukraine and prevent the country from posing a threat to Russia by joining the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation (NATO). He said it was up to the US to stop supplying Ukraine with weapons and convince Kyiv to sit down for negotiations.
"We have never refused negotiations. You should tell the current Ukrainian leadership to stop and come to a negotiating table," said Putin. "We prepared a huge document in Istanbul that was initiated by the head of the Ukrainian delegation. He (Ukraine President) affixed his signature to some of the provisions, not to all of it. He put his signature and then he himself said we were ready to sign it and the war would have been over long ago. However, (UK) Prime Minister Johnson came, talked us out of it. And we missed that chance," he added.
Ukrainian forces have, in recent weeks, been on the defensive after Russia launched fierce assaults along the front lines. Kyiv did receive a boost to its war effort last week when the European Union approved a $54 billion aid package that will help avert a near-term Ukrainian financial crisis. However, the US continues to fight internal battles to pass an aid package for Ukraine as Republicans are opposing the aid to Kyiv and instead call for fixing America's border crisis.
(with inputs from Reuters)
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