The Biden administration is holding internal discussions about asking the Ukrainian government to step back from its firm stance against ceding territory to Russia in eventual peace talks, NBC reported today, citing seven U.S., European, and former U.S. officials.
The report reflects a changing mood in the White House as a slow-moving, high-casualty war of attrition has set in in Ukraine’s Donbas region.
NBC reported the news in the sixth paragraph of a piece focused on an incident in which President Biden chided Secretary of State Antony Blinken and Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin for saying in April that the U.S. wanted to see Russia “weakened” and defeated.
During a press conference following the two cabinet members’ trip to Kyiv in April, Austin made the comments about weakening Russia, and Blinken, who also spoke at the event in Poland, said he agreed.
Multiple Biden administration officials told NBC that while Austin and Blinken flew from Poland toward Germany and Washington, respectively, Biden organized a conference call to criticize their comments and instruct them to use different language.
One official told NBC, “Biden was not happy when Blinken and Austin talked about winning in Ukraine. He was not happy with the rhetoric.”
While the president’s own off-the-cuff remarks about Ukraine in recent months have sowed confusion about the White House’s true policy, the administration has consistently tempered its ongoing support for Ukraine with a level of caution that has frustrated Ukraine and Eastern European countries.
From declining to endorse a plan for allies to transfer Soviet-era fighter jets to Ukraine to deciding against transferring rocket launch systems that could strike Russian territory, the administration has opted for a relatively restrained stance compared with what officials in Kyiv, Warsaw, and Baltic capitals have urged.
In May, Biden wrote a New York Times essay to clarify the aims of U.S. policy toward Ukraine. “We want to see a democratic, independent, sovereign and prosperous Ukraine with the means to deter and defend itself against further aggression,” he wrote.
He also reiterated his administration’s position on whether Ukraine should offer territorial concessions to achieve a cease-fire agreement.
“I will not pressure the Ukrainian government — in private or public — to make any territorial concessions. It would be wrong and contrary to well-settled principles to do so.”
National-security adviser Jake Sullivan cited that formulation earlier today during his remarks to a foreign-policy conference organized by the Center for a New American Security.
“We are gong to support and consult with them as they think about how they want to approach a negotiated outcome with the Russians, and for the time being, supporting them in that means supporting them through the steady provision of weapons and intelligence, which yesterday, we just announced another billion dollars,” he said.
Senior Ukrainian officials, meanwhile, are concerned that Biden is preparing to blame Ukraine for failing to heed U.S. warnings in late 2021 and early 2022 that Russia was going to launch a full invasion of the country.
War fatigue has not visibly hampered U.S. security assistance to Ukraine, but this apparent leak to NBC indicates some thinning patience in Washington.