WASHINGTON/KYIV: US and European officials have spoken to the Ukrainian government about what possible peace negotiations with Russia might entail to end the war, NBC quoted an unidentified senior US official and one former US official as saying.

The war in Ukraine, now in its 21st month, has killed or wounded hundreds of thousands and destroyed swathes of the country. It has also triggered the deepest crisis in Moscow’s relations with the West since the 1962 Cuban Missile Crisis.

NBC said the conversations had included very broad outlines of what Ukraine might need to give up to reach a deal with Russia.

Asked on Saturday about the NBC report, Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelenskiy reaffirmed his stance that this was not the time to negotiate with Russia, and he also denied that any Western leaders were pressuring him to do so.

Zelensky denies war with Russia at ‘stalemate’

Ukraine has repeatedly said it aims to retake all the territory taken by Russia, including Crimea which was annexed in 2014, and that it will not rest until every Russian soldier has been driven from its lands.

NBC quoted the US officials as saying that the conversations with Ukraine came amid concerns in the United States and Europe that the war has reached a stalemate and worries about the West’s ability to continue providing aid to Kyiv. Russia currently controls about 17.5pc of Ukraine’s internationally recognised territory.

Moscow says it had to launch what it calls a “special military operation” in Ukraine in response to what it sees as a hostile and aggressive West it says is using Kyiv to undermine Russia.

Kyiv and its Western allies say this is nonsense and that Moscow’s actions are an imperial-style land grab. The Kremlin says it will achieve all of its aims in Ukraine.

President Volodymyr Zelensky denied on Saturday that Ukraine’s war with Russia had reached a “stalemate”, pushing back at suggestions Western leaders were lobbying for peace talks.

The sprawling frontline between the two warring sides has barely moved in almost a year, with one senior Ukrainian official warning this week that the conflict was deadlocked.

“Time has passed, people are tired... But this is not a stalemate,” Zelensky told a press conference in Kyiv with EU Commission chief Ursula von der Leyen.Zelensky said the Gaza crisis had also drawn attention away from Ukraine, and said that this was “Russia’s goal”. “Of course, it’s clear that the war in the Middle East, this conflict, is taking away the focus,” Zelensky said.

“We have already been in very difficult situations when there was almost no focus on Ukraine,” he said, but added: “I am absolutely sure we will overcome this challenge.” Zelensky’s comments came as EU Commission chief Ursula von der Leyen visited Kyiv to discuss Ukraine’s progress toward joining the 27-member bloc. Kyiv received EU candidacy status several months after Russia invaded last year, but analysts have warned it faces a long and difficult path to membership. “You have reached many milestones,” von der Leyen told Zelensky. “Reforming your justice system. Curbing the oligarchs grip. Tackling money laundering and much more,” she said.

“We should never forget you are fighting an existential war, and at the same time you’re deeply reforming your country,” she added.

She said she was “confident” Ukraine would progress with the accession process when these reforms were implemented.

Published in Dawn, November 5th, 2023