Ukraine war: US urges Kyiv to be open to talks with Moscow, report says
- The Biden administration is encouraging Ukraine to support peace talks with Russia nearly 9 months after the invasion began, according to The Washington Post.
- Russian news agencies say Nova Kakhovka dam was damaged in shelling by Ukrainian forces; Kherson city reported to be suffering from power cut
The United States is privately encouraging Ukraine to signal an openness to negotiate with Russia, The Washington Post reported, as the State Department said Moscow was escalating the war and did not seriously wish to engage in peace talks.
The newspaper cited unnamed sources as saying the request by American officials was not aimed at pushing Ukraine to the negotiating table, but a calculated attempt to ensure Kyiv maintains the support of other nations.
US and Ukrainian officials acknowledged that Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky’s ban on talks with his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin had generated concern in parts of Europe, Africa and Latin America, where the war’s effects on costs of food and fuel are felt most sharply, the Post said.
“Ukraine fatigue is a real thing for some of our partners,” it quoted an unnamed US official as saying.
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Zelensky signed a decree on October 4 formally declaring the prospect of any Ukrainian talks with Putin “impossible” but leaving the door open to talks with Russia.
The White House National Security Council had no immediate comment on the accuracy of the report.
A State Department spokesperson responded: “We’ve said it before and will say it again: Actions speak louder than words. If Russia is ready for negotiation, it should stop its bombs and missiles and withdraw its forces from Ukraine.
“The Kremlin continues to escalate this war. The Kremlin has demonstrated its unwillingness to seriously engage in negotiations since even before it launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine.”
Russian official signals Kherson retreat, but Ukraine fears a trap
The spokesperson also noted remarks by Zelensky on Friday, in which he said: “We are ready for peace, for a fair and just peace, the formula of which we have voiced many times.”
In his nightly address to the Ukrainian people on Friday, Zelensky added: “The world knows our position. This is respect for the UN Charter, respect for our territorial integrity, respect for our people.”
US National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan said during a visit to Kyiv on Friday that Washington’s support for Ukraine would remain “unwavering and unflinching” after Tuesday’s midterm congressional elections.
The United States announced US$400 million worth of additional security assistance for Ukraine, including refurbishing T-72 tanks from the Czech Republic and missiles for HAWK air defences that could be used against Russian drones and cruise missiles.
The new assistance brought the amount of US military aid sent to Kyiv to more than US$18.2 billion since the invasion.
Citing emergency services, Russian news agencies reported on Sunday that Ukraine’s vast Russian-held Nova Kakhovka dam was damaged in shelling by Ukrainian forces. The reports provided no evidence to support the allegation, which could not be immediately verified by Reuters.
Russian state-owned news agency TASS quoted a representative of the emergency services as saying that a rocket launched by a US-made HIMARS missile system had hit the dam’s lock and caused damage. The official quoted said it was an “attempt to create the conditions for a humanitarian catastrophe” by breaching the dam.
The dam, which blocks the Dnipro river upstream of the southern city of Kherson where Ukrainian forces have been making advances, has taken on strategic significance in recent weeks.
Both Russia and Ukraine have since October repeatedly accused each of planning to breach the dam using explosives, in a move that would flood much of the area downstream in what was likely to cause major destruction around Kherson city.
In the latest sign of Russia’s retreat in one of the most bitterly contested areas, Putin publicly endorsed the evacuation of civilians from parts of the Kherson region on Friday.
This appeared to be the first time Putin has endorsed the evacuations personally, although Moscow has been ferrying people out of an area it controls in Kherson on the west bank of the Dnipro River.
Last week Russia said the evacuation zone would also include a 15km (10-mile) buffer area on the east bank.
Kyiv says the measures have included forced deportations of civilians, a war crime, which Russia denies.
Putin’s comments came amid signs Russia could be preparing to abandon its military foothold on the west bank of the Dnipro, including Russian-held Kherson city.
The regional capital is the only big city Russia has captured intact since its invasion in February. Its loss for Russian forces would be one of the severest blows of the war.
Kherson was cut off from electricity and water supplies after a Kyiv strike on nearby power lines, Russian-installed authorities said on Sunday.
“In Kherson and a number of other areas in the region, there is temporarily no electricity or water supply,” the city’s Moscow-installed administration said on Telegram. It said it was a “result of an attack organised by the Ukrainian side on the Berislav-Kakhovka highway that saw three concrete poles of high-voltage power lines damaged”.
Energy specialists were working to “quickly” resolve the issue, the Russian-backed authorities said, as they called on people to “remain calm”.
It is the first time Kherson has seen such a power cut.
Earlier on Saturday, the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) said external power had been restored to the Russian-occupied Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant in southern Ukraine
Two lines were damaged after shelling in the area, forcing the site to use emergency diesel generators for two days, IAEA director general Rafael Grossi said.
The plant has lost external power several times during the current conflict in Ukraine. While it is not currently operational, the facility still needs electricity to cool core materials and prevent a nuclear accident.
“The repeated power outages all too clearly demonstrate the extremely serious nuclear safety and security situation this major nuclear power plant is facing,” Grossi said.
The IAEA has been trying to set up a safe zone around the plant to reduce the risk of a nuclear accident.
“We can’t afford to lose any more time. We must act before it is too late,” Grossi said.
Additional reporting by dpa and Agence France-Presse
