Biden aide held talks with Russian officers amid nuclear tensions

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – Nationwide Safety Advisor Jake Sullivan has held undisclosed talks with high Russian officers in hopes of lowering the chance the battle in Ukraine spills over or escalates right into a nuclear battle, the Wall Road Journal reported on Sunday.

The newspaper cited U.S. and allied officers as saying that Sullivan, President Joe Biden’s high aide on nationwide safety, held confidential conversations in latest months with Kremlin aide Yuri Ushakov and Russian Safety Council secretary Nikolai Patrushev, Sullivan’s counterpart, that weren’t disclosed publicly.

The White Home declined to touch upon the report, responding to questions concerning the story solely with a press release attributed to Nationwide Safety Council spokesperson Adrienne Watson: “Folks declare numerous issues.”

The Wall Road Journal mentioned the officers didn’t present the dates or the variety of calls.

Few high-level contacts between U.S. and Russian officers have been made public in latest months as Washington has insisted that any talks on ending the battle in Ukraine be held between Moscow and Kyiv.

The reported conversations occurred because the West has accused Moscow of ramping up nuclear rhetoric, most not too long ago by repeatedly accusing Kyiv of planning to make use of a radioactive “soiled bomb,” with out providing proof.

Kyiv has denied having such a plan and the US and different Western nations have mentioned Russia may very well be planning to orchestrate such an assault itself and use it as a pretext to escalate the battle.

Russia in flip has accused the West of “encouraging provocations.”

Sullivan traveled to Kyiv on Friday and pledged Washington’s “unwavering and unflinching” help for Ukraine.