U.S., Germany reportedly to push Ukraine to negotiate with Russia

The United States and Germany want to push Ukraine toward the negotiating table to end the war with Russia, the German tabloid paper Bild reported on Friday, citing anonymous sources.

The paper said that President Joe Biden and German Chancellor Olaf Scholz allegedly do not plan to directly put pressure on Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, but instead plan to use the provision of arms to encourage a settlement.

The two countries, which make up the strongest economies in NATO, plan to provide just enough arms, in both quality and quantity, so that Kyiv is able to hold the current front and maintain the stalemate in the war with its much larger neighbor, the Russian Federation.

This would come with the recognition that Ukraine is unable to wrestle back control of the Russian-occupied territories and that the country should seek peace short of the return of those territories.

The reported change would mark a major change for the Biden administration. This summer, Biden said that the United States would support Ukraine for “as long as it takes.”

"Zelensky should realize that things cannot go on like this. Without any external request," the source allegedly told Bild. "He should address the nation of his own free will and explain that negotiations must be launched.”

Neither the Kyiv Independent nor Just the News could independently verify the Bild’s report.