Ukraine could be pushed into negotiations ‘within months’ – WaPo

US officials are beginning to concede that Ukraine may be forced to negotiate with Russia and may ultimately have to give up territory it considers its own, the Washington Post reported on Tuesday, citing sources.

With Donald Trump returning to the White House in January and Kiev’s forces suffering mounting battlefield losses as Russia reclaims occupied territory in Kursk Region, Ukraine is in perhaps its “weakest position in nearly three years,” the paper said.

Many White House officials believe that “within a few months, Ukraine could be pushed into negotiations with Russia” and that it “could be forced to give up territory,” according to the report. The “quiet recognition” that Kiev may need to give up territory is also spreading among its European backers, the Post said.

US President Joe Biden’s recent decision to allow Ukraine to use US-supplied ATACMS missiles to strike deep into Russian territory, as well as his move to provide Kiev with banned landmines, were made in the hope that it would give the country the “the strongest hand possible” before any potential negotiations with Moscow after Trump takes office in January. 

Ukrainian leader Vladimir Zelensky has rejected any suggestion of territorial concessions to Russia. However, Biden’s officials have “largely resigned themselves” to the likelihood that Trump “will not provide Ukraine more assistance,” the report said.

According to the paper, many of Ukraine’s European allies are “frustrated” that it took Washington so long to provide the country with the latest capabilities and that this should have happened when Ukraine’s military position was “more robust.”

Officials told the paper, however, that Biden’s decisions have been “guided by evolving battlefield conditions” and that despite pressure from Kiev, he has only authorized the use of certain weapons when the “conditions warrant” them.

Washington is particularly concerned that as Ukraine shifted troops to Russia’s Kursk Region, it began “losing territory in its east at a faster clip.”

In response to US authorization for Kiev to use long-range ATACMS, Putin announced the deployment of Russia’s new hypersonic Oreshnik ballistic missiles last week. The weapon, which is capable of carrying nuclear warheads, was used against a Ukrainian military industrial facility in the city of Dnepropetrovsk.

Putin said that Moscow will respond “decisively and in a mirror-like manner” to any further escalation of aggressive actions by Kiev and its foreign backers.