The United States has kept a low profile on possible communications with Russia over the Ukraine war because it believes that dialogue should be held between Moscow and Kyiv. But last week The Wall Street Journal provided more details on the matter, revealing that US National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan held talks with advisers to Russian President Vladimir Putin in hopes of reducing the risk of the Russian invasion taking place. boil over or turn into a nuclear conflict.
After a few days of silence, Sullivan himself confirmed yesterday that "the channels to communicate with the Russian Federation at higher levels" remained open between Washington and Moscow. "We have done it when it has been necessary to clarify possible misunderstandings and try to reduce the possibility of catastrophes such as the potential use of nuclear weapons," he assured during an event at the Economic Club of New York, according to the BBC.
However, he insisted officials were "clear on who we were dealing with." In addition, Sullivan noted that the United States had "an obligation to hold them accountable" and pledged to work with its international allies to "hold the perpetrators of serious and grotesque war crimes in Ukraine accountable for what they have done."
From Russia there was another approach to the statements. The Russian news agency Tass mentioned the argument of avoiding nuclear escalation, but avoided the war crimes part and limited itself to stating that the White House refused to give more details about the communication channels to protect them. "We have not described the channels that we have established to protect them and I am afraid that I cannot go further," Sullivan said according to Tass.
Sullivan claimed in September that the United States had communicated publicly and privately with the Russians about Putin's threats to use nuclear weapons in the Ukraine war. But he had not given more details about the lines of communication.
The New York newspaper revealed at the time that the leading figure in the White House had held confidential talks in recent months with Kremlin aide Yuri Ushakov and Russian Security Council Secretary Nikolai Patrushev, Sullivan's counterpart, who they were not made public.
Prior to Sullivan's confirmation, Kremlin spokesman Dmitri Peskov yesterday declined to comment on the newspaper's revelations. "Again I repeat that there are some truthful articles, but for the most part they are articles that are pure speculation," he noted. He also added that although Moscow remains "open" to talks, it cannot negotiate with Kyiv due to the refusal of Volodymyr Zelensky's government to hold talks with Russia.
The Ukrainian president, who has refused to negotiate with Putin, repeated yesterday in his evening speech that he does not rule out negotiating with Russia. But only "genuine" negotiations: that they restore Ukraine's borders, give it compensation for Russian attacks and punish those responsible for war crimes.
