European and US officials have started "quietly" talking with the Ukrainian government about what peace talks with Russia might look like, NBC News reported, citing a "current senior US official and one former senior US official familiar with the discussions."
The television news channel reported online that the discussions with Ukraine have included "very broad outlines of what Ukraine might need to give up to reach a deal." The unnamed officials called the talks "an acknowledgment of the dynamics militarily on the ground in Ukraine and politically in the US and Europe."
The report comes after Ukraine’s commander-in-chief, General Valery Zaluzhny, told The Economist that the war with Russia was starting to look like the static trench battles fought in WWI, and a technological leap would be needed to break the deadlock.
“Just like in the First World War we have reached the level of technology that puts us into a stalemate,” he told The Economist. “There will most likely be no deep and beautiful breakthrough.”
Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelensky in a press conference on Saturday denied the war is in a "stalemate" and said he was under no pressure to offer concessions to end the war.
“Time has passed, people are tired … But this is not a stalemate,” Zelensky said at a press conference in Kyiv during a surprise weekend visit by European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen. “No one among our partners is pressuring us to sit down with Russia, talk to it, and give it something.”
