Ukraine has notched another big victory in its war against Russian aggression: the liberation of the Kherson without a grueling urban battle. Yet that triumph was met with mixed messages from U.S. President Joe Biden’s administration on a very sensitive subject: whether the Ukrainians should begin peace negotiations with Russia.
The chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, Gen. Mark Milley, argued that the Kyiv government should seek a settlement before the conflict becomes a stalemate like World War I. Other U.S. officials pushed back, saying that Washington would never force Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy to negotiate or make concessions. “Nothing about Ukraine without Ukraine,” Biden pledged.
It was a rare display of rhetorical messiness by a relatively disciplined administration, which reflects real uncertainty about four critical questions — not least of which is whether a long war strengthens or weakens the U.S.
