Western officials broach with Kyiv issue of possible peace talks with Moscow - NBC

[November 04, 2023]  (Reuters) - U.S. and European officials have spoken to the Ukrainian government about what possible peace negotiations with Russia might entail to end the war, NBC quoted an unidentified senior U.S. official and one former U.S. official as saying. 

Ukrainian servicemen stand as a ferry carries their counterparts during an exercise, amid Russia's attack on Ukraine, in Chernihiv region, Ukraine November 2, 2023. REUTERS/Gleb Garanich/File Photo

The war in Ukraine, now in its 21st month, has killed or wounded hundreds of thousands and destroyed swathes of the country. It has also triggered the deepest crisis in Moscow's relations with the West since the 1962 Cuban Missile Crisis.

NBC said the conversations had included very broad outlines of what Ukraine might need to give up to reach a deal with Russia.

Reuters was not able to independently verify the conversations reported by the U.S. television network.

The conversations with Ukraine come amid concerns among U.S. and European officials that the war has reached a stalemate and also about the West's ability to continue providing aid to Ukraine, NBC quoted the officials as saying.

Russia currently controls about 17.5% of Ukraine's internationally recognized territory.

Moscow says it had to launch what it calls the "special military operation" in Ukraine in response to what it sees as a hostile and aggressive West it says is using Kyiv to undermine Russia. Kyiv and its Western allies say this is nonsense and that Moscow's actions are an imperial-style land grab.

The Kremlin says it will achieve all of its aims in Ukraine.

Kyiv says that it wants to take back control over all of the territory taken by Russia, including Crimea which was annexed in 2014, and that it will not rest until every last soldier is ejected from its territory.

(Reporting by Guy Faulconbridge; Editing by Gareth Jones)

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