Russian President Vladimir Putin's proposal for a ceasefire in Ukraine to freeze the war has been rejected by the United States after contacts between mediators, three Russian sources told Reuters.
A US source denied there had been any official contact and said Washington would not participate in talks that did not involve Ukraine.
In 2023, Putin sent signals to Washington publicly and privately through intermediaries, including through Moscow's Arab partners in the Middle East and others, that he was willing to consider a ceasefire in Ukraine, the Russian sources said.
Putin had offered to freeze the conflict on current lines and was unwilling to cede any Ukrainian territory controlled by Russia, but the signal offered what some in the Kremlin saw as the best path to some kind of peace.
"Contacts with the Americans have not led to anything," a senior Russian source familiar with the discussions in late 2023 and early 2024 told Reuters on condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the situation.
A second Russian source told Reuters that the Americans had told Moscow through intermediaries that they would not discuss a possible ceasefire without Ukraine's participation, and that is why the contacts ended in failure.
A third source familiar with the discussions said: "It all fell apart with the Americans." The source said that the Americans did not want to put pressure on Ukraine.
So far, the extent of the contacts - and their failure - has not been reported.
It comes as US President Joe Biden has been pushing for months for Congress to approve more aid to Ukraine, but has faced resistance from allies of Republican presidential front-runner Donald Trump. /BGNES
