According to the publication, the chairman of the US Joint Chiefs of Staff, Mark Milli, calls for diplomacy, while advisers to American President Joe Biden believe that it is too early to talk about negotiations.NEW YORK, November 11.
/tass/. Disagreements have arisen in the United States administration over whether to put pressure on Ukraine to achieve an end to the conflict with Russia through diplomatic means. The chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff of the US Armed Forces, General Mark Milli, calls for diplomacy, while advisers to American President Joe Biden and he himself believe that it is too early to talk about negotiations. This was reported by The New York Times on Thursday, citing sources.
According to the newspaper's sources, at several meetings in the White House, Milli said that Ukraine had achieved about what it could expect before the onset of winter. The general noted, the newspaper writes, that during the cold months, the fighting may be less intense, the likelihood of abrupt changes in the course of the conflict will be less, all this opens up opportunities for negotiations. The interlocutors of the newspaper pointed out that the general thereby makes it clear that Ukraine and its Western allies can start working on a political solution to the problem at this time, since a military solution may be unattainable in the near future.
According to sources of The New York Times, neither Biden nor assistant to the American leader for national security Jake Sullivan share Millie's opinion. They believe that neither side is ready for negotiations and any lull will allow the Russian military to regroup. Biden's advisers believe that the conflict will eventually end with negotiations anyway, but so far, according to their assessment, the time has not come for them.
The publication notes that the sources spoke about internal discussions in the administration on condition of anonymity, but Milli's position can be understood from his recent public appearances. So, on Wednesday at an event in New York, he announced a window of opportunity for negotiations on the settlement of the Ukrainian conflict. On Thursday, in an interview with CNBC, he expressed himself more definitely. The General noted that he sees opportunities for diplomatic solutions.
About the possibility of negotiations
On Thursday, Sullivan said that the US authorities are not exerting pressure on Ukraine to force it to negotiate a settlement with the Russian Federation, they are consulting with Kiev as partners. According to Biden's aide, Washington believes that Ukraine should determine its own diplomatic course. The United States sees its task as putting the Ukrainian authorities in the best position on the battlefield, so that when and if there is an opportunity for diplomacy, they will have the best position at the negotiating table.
Earlier, the Politico newspaper reported that the US administration pushed Ukrainian President Vladimir Zelensky to exclude the clause on the impossibility of negotiations with Russian President Vladimir Putin from the list of conditions for starting a dialogue. The publication noted that on Monday, the Ukrainian leader listed five conditions for starting negotiations with Moscow, among which there was no mention of the impossibility of dialogue with Putin. According to Politico, the change in position is directly related to a soft push from the Biden administration.
Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said earlier that the Russian leadership is still ready to hold talks on Ukraine. He noted that Russia is ready to listen to Western colleagues if they offer to organize a conversation about defusing tensions taking into account Moscow's interests.
