Russian dictator vladimir putin, through intermediaries, offered the United States of America to freeze the war in Ukraine, but they rejected the offer.
This was reported by Reuters with reference to three russian sources familiar with the discussions.
"The failure of putin's approach opens the third year of the most massive conflict in Europe since World War II and shows how far apart the world's two largest nuclear powers remain," the publication notes.
At the same time, a US source in a comment to Reuters denied any official contacts and stated that Washington would not participate in the negotiations without the participation of Ukraine.
According to the interlocutors of the agency, putin sent signals to Washington in 2023 both publicly and in private messages through intermediaries, including through Moscow's Arab partners in the Middle East.
He was ready to freeze the conflict at the current positions, but did not want to give up the occupied territories of Ukraine controlled by the russian military.
"Contacts with the Americans ended in nothing," a high-ranking russian source familiar with the progress of the discussions in late 2023 and early 2024 told Reuters.
A second russian source familiar with the contacts told Reuters that the Americans told Moscow through intermediaries that they would not discuss a possible ceasefire without Ukraine's participation, so the contacts ended in failure.
A third source familiar with the discussions said: "Everything fell through with the Americans." He noted that the USA did not want to put pressure on Ukraine.
According to all three sources, putin's signal was relayed to Washington, where it was discussed by senior officials, including White House National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan, CIA Director Bill Burns and Secretary of State Antony Blinken.
In Moscow, Sullivan was expected to speak with putin's foreign policy adviser, Yuriy Ushakov, and outline the next steps toward a ceasefire.
But when the call rang in January, Sullivan told Ushakov that Washington was willing to talk about other aspects of the relationship, but would not talk about a ceasefire without Ukraine, one of the russian sources said.
“Putin said: 'I knew they wouldn't do anything,” a russian source told Reuters.
According to the interlocutors of the agency, the Kremlin sees no point in further contacts with the US on this issue, so the war will continue.
As Ukrainian News Agency earlier reported, Bloomberg reported in January that putin had approached the US through indirect communication channels to show readiness for negotiations, including security arrangements for Ukraine.
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