Joe Biden’s White House denied Tuesday the veracity of reporting that said his administration had a hand in killing a potential Ukraine ceasefire proposal from Russia, in a statement to the Daily Caller.
Reuters, citing three Russian sources, reported that Russian President Vladimir Putin suggested a ceasefire in Ukraine, but that the proposal was rejected by the Biden administration. The White House told the Caller that the story comes from a skewed Russian perspective and insisted that no ceasefire proposal was ever brought forward by Russia or Putin. (RELATED: Tucker Carlson Releases Highly-Anticipated Vladimir Putin Interview)
The White House also told the Caller that Putin has not shown any interest in ending the war in Ukraine and that Ukraine would take the lead in any negotiations.
The Reuters report noted that Putin was asking for a freeze in the conflict along current military lines but was unwilling to cede any of the Ukrainian territory currently controlled by Russia.
“The contacts with the Americans came to nothing,” a senior Russian source with knowledge of the discussions, which occurred toward the end of 2023 and the beginning of 2024, told Reuters.
Critics of U.S. involvement in Ukraine have often suggested that the U.S. is undermining potential peace talks that could at least freeze the war. A peace proposal from 2022 that would’ve seen Russian troops return to Feb. 23 positions in exchange for Ukraine never joining NATO fell through after Western doubts that Russia would maintain its commitments.
Russia had reportedly previously offered to end its invasion of Ukraine in the spring of 2022 under the condition that Ukraine dropped its desire to join NATO, David Arakhamia, leader of the Ukrainian political party Servant of the People, said during an interview with a Ukrainian journalist. Arakhamia claimed that the West rushed in to scuttle the deal, adding that U.K. Prime Minister Boris Johnson made a unexpected visit to Ukraine in April 2022 to urge the country not to “sign anything” with Russia and to continue to “just fight.”
U.S. President Joe Biden talks to reporters during a meeting with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky in the Oval Office at the White House on December 12, 2023 in Washington, DC. (Photo by Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images)
As the war in Ukraine reaches its two-year mark, U.S. lawmakers are debating a supplemental package that would continue to fund Ukraine and Israel while directing new funds to addressing the border crisis. The Senate passed a bill Tuesday morning that would allot a total of $95 billion in aid to Ukraine, Israel and Taiwan. The bill now heads to the House where its fate remains uncertain.
“Every time we spend critical resources on Ukraine, we ensure they will not be available to a contingency necessary to the United States…even now, we are sending weapons to Ukraine far faster than we can make them…where is the anti-war left,” Ohio Republican Sen. J.D. Vance, an opponent of the bill, said ahead of its passing.
As of Dec. 12, 2023, the U.S. has given Ukraine more than $44 billion in military aid since the war with Russia began, The New York Times reported.
“Supporting this bill is standing up to Putin, Opposing it is playing into Putin’s hands,” Biden said of the bill. “History is watching.”