US and Russia discussed containing war, WSJ says

President Joe Biden’s national security adviser and senior Kremlin aides have held private talks in recent months to reduce the risk of a broader conflict over Ukraine, the Wall Street Journal reported. A peace settlement wasn’t a goal of the discussions, according to the report.

Sullivan alluded to US-Russian contacts after Russian leaders suggested that nuclear weapons might be an option in its war against Ukraine. “We do have the capacity to speak directly at senior levels and to be clear about our messages to them and to receive their messages,” Sullivan said on NBC’s “Meet the Press” on Sept. 25. “That has happened frequently over the course of the past few months.”

The White House is privately suggesting Ukraine’s president indicate an openness to talks with Russia as a way to help Volodymyr Zelenskiy’s government address war support fatigue among some allies, the Washington Post reported.

The people described it as a calculated attempt to maintain international support for Ukraine’s war effort, rather than pressure for Ukraine to negotiate, according to the Post.

One official told the newspaper that “Ukraine fatigue is a real thing” for some allies.

Ukraine’s deputy prime minister told an Italian newspaper that “there is no peace because Russians do not want it,” and that if Europe should “betray”its support for Ukraine, the entire Western world would be at risk.

“The only way to reach peace in this phase is to keep fighting,” Iryna Vereshchuk told Corriere della Sera in an interview published on Sunday. “If we stop fighting, we will disappear as people and as a nation.”

Her comments came as the Washington Post reported the US is privately pressing Kyiv to show an openness to talks with Russia as “Ukraine fatigue” sets in among some allies.

US President Joe Biden and German Chancellor Olaf Scholz reaffirmed support for Ukraine during a call on Sunday, according to both governments.

“The leaders agreed that Russia’s recent nuclear threats are irresponsible,” the White House said in a statement. “They underscored the continued commitment of the United States and Germany to provide Ukraine with the economic, humanitarian, and security support it needs to defend against Russia’s aggression.”

They agreed that Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy’s “demand for a just peace deserves full support,” according to readout by German deputy government spokesman Wolfgang Buechner.

Germany can’t “decide on Ukraine’s behalf” if or when to start negotiations with Russia, President Frank-Walter Steinmeier said. “Ukraine must say when it wants to hold such negotiations, when it considers them promising,” Steinmeier told ARD public television.

Diplomatic efforts shouldn’t have the purpose of endorsing Russia’s “violation of borders,” said Steinmeier, a former foreign minister who also served as chief of staff under former Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder.

Russian media said Ukraine struck the Kakhovka dam north of Kherson with a missile on Sunday, without causing major damage. There was no comment from Kyiv. Ukraine for weeks has accused Russian forces of planning to blow up the dam and flood the surrounding region to slow a Ukrainian counteroffensive around Kherson.

Russian troops, after months of setbacks, intensified their efforts to capture territory near Bakhmut in the Donetsk region. The strategic value of the heavily-bombarded town is unclear. Kremlin forces continued to set up defensive positions along the left bank of the Dnipro River, according to the Institute for the Study of War, as the situation in Kherson remains in the balance. Kyiv’s troops continue to target Russian logistics and transportation equipment in the Kherson region. Ukraine’s southern operational command said Russian forces have destroyed dozens of civilian ships as part of their retreat to prevent Kyiv’s military from potentially using them. Separately, Russian occupying forces continue to forcibly evacuate the population from the temporarily occupied territories of the Kherson region to Crimea and beyond, Ukrainian officials said. Russian media reported ten towns and villages in the Kherson region, including Kherson itself, were left without electricity after “sabotage.”

—Bloomberg