WASHINGTON — The Biden administration is backing Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy’s efforts to negotiate a peaceful end to Russia’s invasion of his country as it continued to accuse Russian forces of deliberately targeting civilians in what would amount to war crimes, top U.S. officials said Sunday.
“We have supported the negotiations that President Zelenskyy has attempted to do with the Russians,” Linda Thomas-Greenfield, U.S. ambassador to the United Nations, told CNN, though she quickly sought to temper expectations. “And I do use the word ‘attempted’ because the negotiations seem to be one-sided, and the Russians have not leaned into any possibility for a negotiated and diplomatic solution. ... But we’re still hopeful that the Ukrainian effort will end this brutal war.”
Zelenskyy had told CNN on Sunday that “without negotiations, we cannot end this war,” a day after calling for direct talks with Russian President Vladimir Putin to end the conflict.
