Russia-Ukraine war: US, EU officials secretly broach topic of peace negotiations with Zelenskyy, report claims

Amid the two wars raging globally–Israel vs Hamas and Russia vs Ukraine, the US and European officials are reportedly broaching peace talks with Volodymyr Zelenskyy.

According to NBC News, the West has begun secret talks with the Ukranian government about what peace negotiations with Russia might entail.

The crucial conversations included a broad range of topics that Ukraine might need to compromise to reach the deal.

Some of the fragile topics were discussed last month during a meeting of representatives from more than 50 nations supporting Ukraine, including NATO members, known as the Ukraine Defense Contact Group, the report mentioned.

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Tension has risen among the US and European officials that the war has reached a stalemate, and Ukraine is running out of forces. On the other hand, Russia has a seemingly endless supply, officials said.

However, according to an Al Jazeera report, Zelenskyy has denied that the ongoing Russia-Ukraine war has reached a “stalemate”. The Ukrainian President also denied reports that the Western allies are pressurizing Kyiv to negotiate with Moscow.

“Such pressure existed before Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022 and at the beginning of the fighting, but “today, none of the EU leaders or the US are putting pressure on me to sit down with Russia, negotiate and give Russia anything. There will be no such thing,” Al Jazeera quoted the Ukrainian President as saying.

Also read: Russia conducts simulated nuclear strike as Ukraine prepares for renewed attack

With the war now in its 20th month and Ukraine struggling to gain ground in its counteroffensive, Zelenskyy has routinely been meeting with the Western leaders in a bid to stave off fatigue with the conflict, Al Jazeera reported.

Zelenskyy also said that the war between Israel and Hamas has drawn away global attention away from Ukraine, and this was “Russia’s goal”.

Earlier, Kremlin also denied that the conflict has reached a ‘stalemate’, while also refuting Ukrainian claims of achieving ‘victory’, Russian News Agency TASS reported.

“The Kyiv regime should have realized long ago that it is absurd to even talk about any prospects of the Kyiv regime’s victory on the battlefield. And the sooner the Kyiv regime itself realizes this, the sooner some prospects will open up,” Kremlin Spokesman told media.