NBC: U.S. and Europe start talking to Ukraine about possibility of peace negotiations with Russia

U.S. and European officials have started to talk to the Ukrainian government about the possibility of peace talks with Russia, according to NBC News, which cited one current senior U.S. official and one former senior U.S. official familiar with the discussions.

According to the journalists’ sources, the discussions included very broad outlines of what Ukraine might need to give up in order to reach an agreement. Some of these talks, which NBC News sources referred to as delicate, occurred during the Ramstein format defense contact group in October.

Negotiations between U.S. and European officials and Kyiv began against the backdrop of concerns from U.S. and European officials that the war had reached a stalemate and doubts about the ability to continue providing assistance to Ukraine.

U.S. President Joe Biden’s administration also expressed concerns about Ukraine struggling with conscription for military service. Additionally, the Russian invasion of Ukraine is attracting much less public attention than the Middle East, which officials believe could impact the allocation of additional aid to Kyiv.

Sources from NBC News believe that more active discussions between Western officials and Kyiv about peace negotiations will begin toward the end of the year or in early 2024. To persuade Volodymyr Zelensky to initiate negotiations, NATO may offer Ukraine some security guarantees, even without the country’s formal accession to the alliance.

The Biden administration believes that Russian President Vladimir Putin is not ready for negotiations with Ukraine and still hopes to continue the war when Kyiv’s allies lose the ability to support it.

U.S. National Security Council spokesperson Adrienne Watson told NBC News that any decisions regarding negotiations depend on Ukraine. “We are focused on continuing to strongly support Ukraine as it defends its freedom and independence from Russian aggression,” she added.