As Russian and Ukrainian forces trade blows in the eastern Donbas region, prospects for peace appear dimmer than ever, even amid hints of possible detente between Washington and Moscow.
“As for Ukraine, we have nothing to discuss with them [the United States],” Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergey Ryabkov told Russian state media on Nov. 18. “There can be no dialogue or ... talks since our views are polar opposites.”
However, he noted that Moscow was open to the possibility of high-level talks with the United States to discuss issues pertaining to “strategic stability.”
“If the Americans show interest and readiness, we will not refuse,” Ryabkov said.
Earlier this month, hopes for a diplomatic solution were raised when U.S. Gen. Mark Milley, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, appeared to call for peace talks between Kyiv and Moscow.
“When there’s an opportunity to negotiate when peace can be achieved ... seize the moment,” Milley said on Nov. 9.
He made the remarks after Russia announced plans to withdraw its forces from the right bank of the Dnieper River and the strategic city of Kherson—a maneuver it has since carried out.
Last week, Ukrainian forces replaced departing Russian troops in Kherson city and other strategic positions near the bank of the river.
The Russian retreat has been widely hailed as a major victory for Kyiv.
But it has also served to free up substantial amounts of Russian manpower and equipment, which are reportedly being redeployed to other areas along the 680-mile front line.
Russian lines have also been reinforced by Moscow’s recent call-up of 300,000 fresh army reservists.
According to reports from both sides, fighting is now heaviest in Donetsk and Luhansk, which together make up the eastern, Russian-speaking Donbas region.
Last week, Moscow claimed that its forces had captured Donetsk’s town of Pavlivka following days of fierce fighting.
The Epoch Times was unable to verify the claims.
In late September, Russia formally annexed the Donetsk, Luhansk, Kherson, and Zaporizhzhia regions and now views them all as Russian Federation territory.
Kyiv has vowed to recover all four territories, along with the southern region of Crimea, which Moscow annexed in 2014 and is now home to Russia’s Black Sea Fleet.
Ukrainian officials have repeatedly said negotiations can only take place after Russia withdraws from all annexed territories—a condition some see as unrealistic.
Speaking to reporters on Nov. 16, Milley appeared to downplay Kyiv’s chances for an outright military victory in the short term.
“The probability of a Ukrainian military victory—defined as kicking the Russians out of all of Ukraine to include what they claim as Crimea—the probability of that happening anytime soon is not high militarily,” the general said.
Kremlin: No Comment on ‘Negotiations’
In a related development, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said a meeting held in Ankara on Nov. 14 between top U.S. and Russian intelligence officials has played a “key role” in averting “uncontrolled escalation.”In a statement released by his office on Nov. 18, Erdogan called for reviving stalled Ukraine–Russia talks, saying the ongoing conflict only served to “increase risks.”
On Nov. 14, U.S. CIA Director William Burns met with his Russian counterpart, Sergey Naryshkin, in the Turkish capital.
The closed-door meeting, which wasn’t announced in advance, reportedly took place at the headquarters of Turkey’s National Intelligence Organization.
It was the first known face-to-face contact between top-level U.S. and Russian officials since Moscow invaded Ukraine in late February.
After the meeting, Burns traveled to Kyiv, where he met with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy.
At the time, a White House spokesperson quoted by Reuters insisted that Burns was “not conducting negotiations” with Naryshkin, who heads up Russia’s foreign intelligence service.
“He is not discussing settlement of the war in Ukraine,” the spokesperson was quoted as saying.
According to U.S. officials, Burns, a former ambassador to Moscow, had conveyed a warning to Naryshkin regarding the consequences of Russia’s use of nuclear weapons.
Since Russia’s territorial annexations in late September, Western media outlets have proliferated with headlines about Moscow’s “escalating nuclear rhetoric.”
Moscow, for its part, says its statements are being taken out of context and that its nuclear doctrine clearly lays out the circumstances under which it might deploy nuclear weapons.
On Nov. 17, when asked about the Burns–Naryshkin meeting in Ankara, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said, “We don’t comment on the contents of negotiations.”
The following day, Peskov appeared to float the notion of Western-backed peace talks between Kyiv and Moscow.
“Communication with the West could also be a guiding, reinforcing, and strengthening element of communication” between Russia and Ukraine, Peskov was quoted as saying by Turkey’s Anadolu Agency.
Reuters contributed to this report.
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