Russian President Vladimir Putin recently suggested he was open to the possibility of a ceasefire in his country’s ongoing war against neighboring Ukraine, a report claimed.
According to Reuters, that suggestion was dismissed by American officials who were not interested in temporarily halting the ongoing hostilities.
Citing three Russian sources, the wire service reported Putin sought through back channels and intermediaries to stop the fighting, which began in February 2022 when Russia invaded its former Soviet satellite republic neighbor.
“The contacts with the Americans came to nothing,” one Russian source who was said to have had first-hand knowledge about peace talks that began last year and supposedly fell apart in recent weeks.
A second source said American diplomats communicated to Moscow via intermediaries that no peace talks would take place without members of Ukraine’s government at the table.
A third source said, “Everything fell apart with the Americans,” who reportedly did not want to pressure Ukraine into a deal.
Russia’s sources indicated Putin has been interested in deescalating the situation in Eastern Europe for a number of months.
One of them said Putin was not surprised by the reaction from Washington while another said the Americans involved in the discussions doubted the Russian president’s sincerity.
“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,” a Russian source told Reuters.
The sources were each granted anonymity by Reuters.
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Meanwhile, an American involved with the reported ceasefire talks denied there had been any “official contact” with Russian leaders about pushing a pause button on the fighting.
The reported peace talks reportedly took place at the end of last year in Turkey, and according to one of Reuters’ sources, White House National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan, CIA Director Bill Burns and Secretary of State Antony Blinken were aware of them.
Sullivan allegedly refused to speak with any of his Russian counterparts on the matter.
The Kremlin and the White House both refused to comment on Reuters’ reporting.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has banned his country’s diplomats from speaking with Russian government officials.
Reuters’ sources concluded the war would continue after Kremlin officials concluded any future peace talks with their American counterparts would be pointless.
The details and supposed conditions of the proposed ceasefire were not shared.
The Week reported last month that it is estimated Ukraine has suffered around 70,000 casualties in the two-year war while Russia has lost at least 120,000 troops in the fighting.
On early Tuesday morning, 22 Republican senators voted with almost every single Senate Democrat to approve a foreign aid package worth $95 billion to, in part, continue to fund Ukraine’s military.
