"Secret talks between Russia and the US at least twice a month." The White House responds

A group of former high-ranking US national security officials held secret talks with influential Russians close to the Kremlin, including Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov. The goal is to start negotiations to end the war in Ukraine, NBC News reports. The Russian Foreign Ministry denies these reports.

Unofficial talks with Russian representatives are held at least twice a month, and the American side assures during them that it does not want a “total victory”, an anonymous source told the Moscow Times. The White House denies the reports and assures that no secret talks with Russia are underway. This is yet another allegation of this type against the US.

"The Biden administration has not officially authorized these discussions," a State Department spokesman said. "And as we have said many times, nothing about Ukraine without Ukraine," he added.

“The current US authorities have not asked former US officials to open unofficial diplomatic channels with Russia and do not send any messages to Moscow through them,” National Security Council spokesman Adam Hodge said on Thursday. This is the White House's reaction to new revelations about talks between former US officials and the Russians about the war against Ukraine.

“The United States has not asked any official or former official to open an unofficial channel, nor is it seeking an unofficial channel. Nor do we transmit any messages through others. When we say 'nothing about Ukraine without Ukraine', we take it seriously,” Hodge said on Twitter.

Reports on secret talks between Russia and the US

In this way, the White House once again distanced itself from confidential talks conducted by former American diplomats with representatives of Russia. Such talks, including a meeting of experts from the Center for Foreign Relations (CFR) with Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov, were first reported in July by NBC News, describing them as secret negotiations between the US and Russia on the war against Ukraine.
On Thursday, an interview with an alleged anonymous participant in these talks was published by the Moscow Times. A former US official said unofficial talks with Russian officials take place at least twice a month.

The American participants were to declare that “the US is ready to work constructively on Russian national security concerns”, to convince the Russians that the Americans do not want a “total victory” and that the US needs a stable Russia as “a more creative player in the sphere of European security”.

Attempt to talk to Putin. "Rejected"

The interlocutor of the “Moscow Times” also revealed that US assistance was proposed in organizing referendums in the occupied territories of Ukraine. At the same time, he admitted that talks have stalled and Russia's focus on war makes it “impossible to conduct any productive forms of diplomacy”. He added that the biggest obstacle in this is Vladimir Putin himself.

According to the interlocutor of the Moscow Times, the US administration had made one attempt to talk to Putin, which he rejected. The former official also said that for this reason Washington should establish contact with representatives of the Russian elites who are opposed to the war.