White House spokesperson Karine Jean-Pierre denied on Monday reports that the US and Russia were carrying out confidential talks on a potential solution to the Ukraine conflict, confirming that the US reserves the right to hold discussions at a senior level with Russia over risk reduction.
Referring to a report of undisclosed conversations with Russia, Jean-Pierre said, “People claim a lot of things about conversations that the US has or doesn’t have. I don’t have any specific conversations [between Washington and Moscow] to read out to you.”
The report in question specifically refers to one issued by the Wall Street Journal on Sunday which stated the US National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan carried out a series of confidential talks in recent weeks with Kremlin aide Yury Ushakov and Russian Security Council Secretary Nikolai Patrushev.
According to the report, the objective has been to prevent the risk of escalation and maintain open lines of communication rather than to seek a resolution to end the war in Ukraine.
Kremlin Spokesperson Dmitry Peskov said on Monday that Moscow is not certain of whether media reports about the US encouraging Ukraine to negotiate with Russia are true, adding that truthful reports emerge at times, but most of them are mere speculations.
“We do not know whether this is true or not, because I repeat, there are truthful reports, but most reports are absolute speculation or pure lies. So, we are not able to comment on [the reports about the US asking Ukraine to negotiate with Russia] without being sure that this, indeed, is true,” Peskov told reporters.
The news of such reports comes in light of statements delivered by Russian President Vladimir Putin who said on September 27, “In its aggressive anti-Russian policy, the West has crossed every line.”
“This is not a bluff. And those who try to blackmail us with nuclear weapons should know that the weathervane can turn and point towards them.”
In a related context, and in stark contrast with the White House statement, State Department Spokesperson Ned Price said on Monday that the US and Russia were maintaining active communications on a near-daily basis.
“The United States, as a responsible country, we have an obligation to maintain channels of communication with Russia,” Price said during a press briefing.
“We have a functioning embassy in Moscow. We speak to the Russians via the embassy virtually every day, if not, in fact, every day. We speak consistently. We pass messages via the Russian Embassy here in Washington.”
Price added that the US acts deliberately to make sure the lines of communication with Russia remain open.
According to the Spokesperson, the US and Russia discuss several issues of concern, which include detained citizens, the status of the embassy, and de-escalation.
Price further claimed that the US has called on Russia to seek a solution to the Ukraine conflict via diplomatic means.
Source: Agencies (editted by Al-Manar English Website)
