The Biden administration is encouraging Ukraine to support peace talks with Russia nearly 9 months after invasion began, WaPo reports

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky speaks as he and British Prime Minister Boris Johnson give a press conference on August 24, 2022 in Kyiv, Ukraine.

Alexey Furman/Getty Images

• The Biden administration is urging Ukrainian President Zelenskyy to signal he is open to negotiating with Russia.
• The Washington Post reported the move is a calculation to maintain international support for Ukraine.
• Zelenskyy has previously said Ukraine will not engage in peace talks while Putin is in power.

In an effort to bolster international support for the ongoing war, the Biden administration is urging Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy to reverse his previous stance and signal he is open to peace talks with Russia, according to reporting by The Washington Post.

The move is not intended to push Ukraine to the bargaining table, but instead to ease international fears about supporting an indefinite war, The Post reported, and is a sign of the increasingly complex foreign policy strategy being employed by the White House.

It has been more than eight months since the country was invaded and, while the Biden administration has pledged to financially support Ukraine for "as long as it takes," there has been growing tension among Washington lawmakers who feel US backing should not be "a free blank check."

"Ukraine fatigue is a real thing for some of our partners," one US official, who spoke on the condition of anonymity, told The Post.

While Ukraine and Russia explored a neutrality plan in the early days of the war, atrocities committed during the invasion — including the rape of civilians and torture of prisoners — have resulted in Zelenskyy's current hard-line stance against negotiation, The Post reported.

In July, the Ukrainian President vowed to fight until all Ukrainian territories are liberated from Russian occupation and in late September issued a decree that declared peace talks "impossible" while Russian leader Vladimir Putin remains in power.

Zelenskyy's public refusal to negotiate has further spurred concerns that the US is supporting a war with no end in sight. As the economic impacts of the war and fear of nuclear escalation continue to be felt in the states, bipartisan calls for diplomacy have increased, while the White House this week authorized $400 million more in military aid to be sent to Ukraine. 

Representatives for the Biden administration did not immediately respond to Insider's requests for comment.

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