On Friday, Moscow denied a recent Bloomberg report stating that Russian President Vladimir Putin was probing for ways to entice the United States into talks to help end the war in Ukraine and would even consider dropping key concerns regarding Ukraine's security status.
The lectern stands empty as reporters await the arrival of Director of Central Intelligence Agency John Brennan for a press conference at CIA headquarters in Langley, Virginia, December 11, 2014.
The report stated that Moscow was 'testing the waters' to see if Washington was ready to engage in such talks and was reaching out to the United States through indirect channels.
The article was said to have cited two people who were "close" to Putin, who allege he said he "may be willing to consider dropping an insistence on neutral status for Ukraine and even ultimately abandon opposition to eventual NATO membership - the threat oaf which has been a central Russian justification for the invasion ."
The Cost of War
According to the New York Post, Russia is spending around 40% of its national budget on the military and is even using Soviet-era weapons to rearm the frontlines.
"The ratio is about 10 to 1," a Ukrainian officer serving in the 93rd Mechanized Brigade told CNN, comparing Russia's munitions output to Ukraine's."Russia is a country that produces ammo, and they have strategic reserves. Yes, they use old Soviet systems. But Soviet systems can still kill."
The Bloomberg story states that Russia sent indicators to US officials with direct orders from Putin. Also conceding that negotiations may have been a ploy to wedge between Ukraine and its allies. The story also mentioned that a senior US official was made aware of these overtures sometime last month.
The Cost of Peace
According to the rumor, Russia would maintain control over territory it had already taken since the beginning of the war as part of the deal. Russia currently holds 18% of Ukrainian territory. The Ukrainian president has repeatedly stated that he will not sacrifice land for peace. This would not be the first time that Russia or the United States has been accused of negotiating for peace behind Ukraine's back.
A Newsweek article from 2023 quotes a CIA official as saying that a report in the Swiss-German newspaper Neue Zurcher Zeitung (NZZ) that CIA Director William Burns took a secret trip to Moscow was completely false.
"President Putin has stated numerous times that Russia was, is and will continue to be open for negotiations on Ukraine," a Kremlin spokesperson told Bloomberg.
However, United States officials denied receiving any messages or indications from Russia.
"We are unaware of the shifts in Russia's position described," a National Security Council official said, noting it was not the United States' place to negotiate the terms of Ukraine's war.
"It will be up to Ukraine to decide whether, when and how to negotiate with Russia."
Former White House Aide Fiona Hill believes the rumors are a classic move by the KGB meant to undermine Ukraine's faith in the United States by making it appear that they are going behind their backs to negotiate without them.
"It benefits [Russia] for everyone to think that there's a back channel and it's so secret no one can figure it out because it scares the hell out of the Ukrainians," Hill told Bloomberg. "The Russians want us to create this idea that the channel is there and that everything depends on the US so no one or nothing else plays a role," she said.
