The administration of the US President Joe Biden did not approve of the secret negotiations with the Minister of Foreign Affairs of Russia Sergei Lavrov, which were previously reported by NBC News.
This was reported by The Guardian with reference to the White House and the US State Department.
"The Biden administration did not authorize these discussions. As we have repeatedly said: there is nothing about Ukraine without Ukraine," the representative of the State Department emphasized.
According to him, the administration will continue to provide weapons to Kyiv so that Ukrainian officials "can negotiate from a position of strength when they believe the time is right."
White House national security spokesman John Kirby told CBS News that the White House was aware of the informal discussions.
"But I want to make it clear that these discussions were not encouraged, they were not generated by us, we did not support them in any active way," he noted.
NBC News, citing six informed sources, reported that the talks were held "to lay the groundwork for negotiations to end the war in Ukraine." They took place in April in New York during Lavrovʼs visit to chair the UN Security Council and lasted several hours.
Two sources said the discussions took place with the administrationʼs knowledge but not at its direction, and those who met with Lavrov briefed the White House after the meeting.
- In March, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said that negotiations with Russia are possible only if it withdraws all troops from Ukraine.
- The Kremlin called the information about the meeting "disinformation."