U.S. Sees Little Prospect for Ukraine Talks With Putin After Biden Offer - The New York Times

WASHINGTON — A time aft President Biden said helium would beryllium consenting to speech with President Vladimir V. Putin of Russia astir a imaginable bid statement successful Ukraine, the Kremlin offered a frosty response, and prospects for settling the brutal struggle remained arsenic distant arsenic ever.

Mr. Biden said connected Thursday that helium would clasp his archetypal speech with Mr. Putin since earlier Russia invaded Ukraine connected Feb. 24 if the Russian person was “looking for a mode to extremity the war.” But U.S. officials said that Russia, arsenic they person antecedently assessed, was not prepared to negociate successful bully faith, and Russian officials repeated hard-line demands that are unacceptable to Kyiv.

Although Mr. Biden’s remark was taken by immoderate arsenic a caller accent connected moving toward bid talks with Russia, John F. Kirby, a spokesperson for the National Security Council, told reporters that Mr. Biden’s presumption had not changed.

“The president has been precise accordant astir that,” Mr. Kirby said. “He’s got nary intentions to speech to Mr. Putin close now. As helium besides said, Putin has shown perfectly nary inclination to beryllium funny successful dialog of immoderate kind. In fact, rather the contrary. Everything he’s doing shows that Mr. Putin is funny successful continuing this illegal, unprovoked war.”

In Moscow, Dmitri S. Peskov, the Kremlin’s spokesman, said astatine a quality league connected Friday that Mr. Putin remained “open to contacts and negotiations” and that diplomacy was the “preferable way” to execute Russia’s goals.

But Mr. Peskov noted that the United States “still does not admit caller territories arsenic portion of Russia,” an evident notation to eastbound Ukrainian regions that Mr. Putin claimed to annex aft sham referendums successful September, saying that “this makes much analyzable the hunt for communal crushed for communal discussions.”

In fact, the Russian presumption fundamentally rules retired superior negotiations with President Volodymyr Zelensky of Ukraine, who said successful a mid-November interview with Bloomberg News that the warfare could not extremity until Ukraine had reclaimed each its territory from Russia, including the purportedly annexed regions arsenic good arsenic the Crimean Peninsula, which Russia annexed successful 2014.

“The Russians person made it precise wide that, of course, they are not successful the temper for constructive dialog and for constructive diplomacy,” the State Department spokesman, Ned Price, said astatine a property briefing. Any speech betwixt Mr. Biden and Mr. Putin “is thing much than a hypothetical astatine this time,” helium added.

“We person been precise wide that the United States and countries astir the satellite volition ne'er — never, never, ne'er — admit territory that Russia has illegally annexed, either successful 2014 oregon much recently, arsenic portion of its amerciable and present brutal aggression against Ukraine,” Mr. Price added.

Mr. Biden’s remark — made during a quality league with the visiting President Emmanuel Macron of France, who has spoken to Mr. Putin respective times implicit the past year, including successful precocious August — follows immoderate signs that elder U.S. officials person contemplated whether Ukraine’s caller palmy offensives contiguous a model for negotiations. Last month, the president of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, Mark A. Milley, told reporters that Ukraine’s presumption of “strength” creates “a possibility” for a governmental solution.

But Anders Fogh Rasmussen, who served arsenic NATO caput wide from 2009 to 2014, said this week during a sojourn to Washington that helium had spoken with Biden medication officials and saw nary motion that they were pressuring Ukraine’s authorities to statesman negotiating with Russia.

“It was an thought that was conscionable floated, but it has been instantly unopen down,” Mr. Rasmussen said. “It would truly weaken the Western beforehand if we tried to propulsion Zelensky into premature bid negotiations, due to the fact that that would beryllium a trap.”

“Putin is not sincere erstwhile it comes to bid negotiations,” Mr. Rasmussen added.

Ukrainian officials person said the same, informing that Russia could effort to intermission the warring for talks — but lone to usage that clip to hole for caller subject offensives.

Mr. Macron reaffirmed France’s enactment for Ukraine and nodded to the world that a Ukrainian colonisation enraged by Russia’s concern is successful nary temper to compromise. France “will ne'er impulse Ukrainians to marque a compromise that volition not beryllium acceptable for them,” helium said.

On Friday, Italy’s overseas minister, Antonio Tajani, said that Russian attacks connected civilian infrastructure targets similar powerfulness grids were “making immoderate benignant of dialog impossible.”

“We each privation peace, but it indispensable travel done Kyiv’s independence, not done its surrender,” Mr. Tajani said. “The work for this concern is lone Russian. Now the Kremlin indispensable springiness factual signals alternatively of bombing the population.”

White House officials said they were not amazed by Russia’s absorption to Mr. Biden’s comments. Few connected the president’s nationalist information squad expected thing antithetic from Mr. Putin, fixed Russia’s behaviour successful the past respective weeks, which has included strikes connected infrastructure targets that person deprived large cities including Kyiv of heat, airy and moving water.

“This brutalization of Ukraine’s radical is barbaric,” Secretary of State Antony J. Blinken said astatine a NATO gathering successful Romania connected Wednesday.

Mr. Biden’s remark astir speaking to Mr. Putin was not intended, the officials said, to awesome a displacement successful argumentation oregon to bespeak that the president was drifting from his committedness to ensuring that Ukraine’s enactment decided erstwhile and however to negociate an extremity to the war.

Aides accidental the president continues to judge that negotiations volition beryllium necessary. But they besides accidental helium does not judge that nonstop talks with Mr. Putin volition beryllium imaginable unless the “facts connected the ground” change.

In his remarks connected Thursday, Mr. Biden was cautious to amusement deference to Ukraine and the NATO allies, saying helium would speech to Mr. Putin lone aft consulting with them first.

In part, the connection was intended to beryllium a amusement of enactment for diplomacy by his counterparts. Mr. Macron has stressed the value of maintaining dialog with the Russian leader, if lone to debar unsafe escalation oregon miscalculation. He called Mr. Putin successful August and is expected to conscionable with him successful a fewer days. Olaf Scholz, the German chancellor, spoke to the Russian president connected Friday morning.

A Kremlin readout of the telephone with Mr. Scholz blamed the West for the lack of talks, saying that the Western attack of “pumping the Kyiv authorities with weapons” and providing it with fiscal and governmental enactment “leads Kyiv to cull immoderate thought of negotiations.”

But determination are different audiences to see arsenic well. Some leaders are anxious astir the economical impacts of a warfare that has driven up nutrient and vigor prices worldwide. And successful the United States, immoderate Republican and progressive Democratic lawmakers person expressed vexation that the Biden administration, which has provided astir $20 cardinal successful subject assistance to Kyiv since the Russian invasion, appears to beryllium penning “blank checks” without describing an extremity crippled for the conflict.

White House officials said the president’s remark astir being consenting to conscionable with Mr. Putin nether definite circumstances was not straight aimed astatine those groups. But the remark nevertheless signals that the Biden medication has not foreclosed the anticipation of diplomacy, adjacent though Mr. Biden has not spoken to Mr. Putin since mid-February.

Mr. Blinken has spoken to his counterpart, Sergey V. Lavrov, lone erstwhile since mid-January, to sermon the imaginable merchandise of 2 Americans imprisoned successful Russia, Paul Whelan and Brittney Griner. Mr. Biden besides said successful October that helium would beryllium consenting to speech with Mr. Putin astir releasing the 2 Americans.

Speaking a time earlier Mr. Biden’s comments, Mr. Rasmussen, the erstwhile NATO chief, said helium did not judge that Ukraine would judge a bid woody that allowed Russia to inhabit immoderate portion of its territory.

“I tin reason rather confidently that arsenic agelong arsenic you volition spot Russian troops connected Ukrainian soil, you volition person a conflict,” helium said. “The lone off-ramp for Putin is, get retired of Ukraine.”

Elisabetta Povoledo contributed reporting.