The Kremlin declined to comment on a Wall Street Journal report that claimed the United States held undisclosed talks with top Russian officials to avoid further escalation in the Ukraine war. According to the report, US National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan spoke with aides to President Vladimir Putin in hopes of reducing the risk of a wider war or nuclear conflict. “We have nothing to say about this publication,” Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters on Monday. The newspaper reported that US officials said Sullivan was in contact with Yuri Usakov, Putin’s foreign policy adviser, and Security Council Secretary Nikolai Patrushev. Municipal workers clear debris outside the railway administration headquarters damaged by shelling in Donetsk, Ukraine [Alexander Ermochenko/Reuters] Peskov also declined to comment on a Washington Post report over the weekend that the US was privately encouraging Ukraine to negotiate with Russia. “We have nothing to say about this publication,” Peskov said. “Once again, I reiterate that there are some true reports, but for the most part, there are reports that are pure speculation,” he said, telling reporters to contact the White House or the paper itself. Meanwhile, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said he saw no room for negotiations with Russia, an option he officially ruled out after Russia held illegal referendums that led to the “annexation” of four Ukrainian regions in September. Zelensky said he can negotiate with a new Russian president whenever one emerges. The Ukrainian public, having suffered greatly in the last eight months of the war, is often outraged whenever foreign figures suggest that they accept the current state of the conflict and give in to Russia’s demands. Recently, tech billionaire Elon Musk tweeted a plan to end the war that would hand Crimea to Russia and hold referendums organized by the United Nations in the four Moscow-annexed territories on whether Russia would remain or will go. Musk has been criticized for this, but the lack of negotiations is causing concern among international powers. “Ukraine fatigue is a real thing for some of our partners,” an unnamed US official was quoted as saying by the Washington Post. As Tuesday’s midterm elections in the US approach, polls show that support for Ukraine among Republican voters is falling, meaning continued aid could be in jeopardy. According to a Wall Street Journal poll, 48 percent of Republicans said the U.S. is doing “too much” to support Ukraine. With global inflation rates rising, new questions are being raised about the future of US aid, which has already reached $18.2 billion. Other nations already reluctant to support Ukraine externally could also push for more peace talks if the war continues. Zelensky has refused to talk to Russia unless Ukraine regains all the territory it seized, but according to the Washington Post, US officials believe the Ukrainian leader will likely be open to negotiations in the winter.
