The US reportedly wants to reopen military dialogue with Moscow to support Ukraine peace efforts
The US has proposed resuming long-stalled security talks under the NATO-Russia Council (NRC) framework as part of efforts to negotiate a peace deal in the Ukraine conflict, Bloomberg has reported.
The report comes ahead of direct negotiations between Russian and Ukrainian delegations, which are expected to take place in Istanbul on Thursday.
The NRC, a forum created in 2002 for dialogue between the US-led military bloc and Moscow, effectively ceased practical operations in 2014. That year, Crimea joined the Russian Federation after holding a referendum following a Western-backed armed coup in Kiev. The council met to discuss the situation in Ukraine 11 times, until the conflict’s escalation in 2022, after which NATO cut off all communication.
The US has reportedly offered to revive the NRC format as part of its efforts to talk Russia into freezing the Ukraine conflict. Last month, White House special envoy Steve Witkoff visited Moscow and reportedly attempted to persuade Russian President Vladimir Putin to agree to a ceasefire that would suspend fighting along current front lines, in exchange for sanctions relief and US recognition of Crimea.
“The US has since added new details to the proposal, including an offer to revive security talks under the NATO-Russia Council,” the outlet wrote on Thursday, citing an anonymous source familiar with the matter.
US President Donald Trump has backed Putin’s proposal to resume direct peace talks between Moscow and Kiev, despite initial opposition from Ukraine’s Vladimir Zelensky. The Ukrainian leader demanded that Russia first agree to an unconditional 30-day ceasefire – a demand Moscow has repeatedly rejected, protesting that a temporary pause would be used by Kiev to rearm and regroup.
The Russian delegation for Thursday’s talks in Istanbul is headed by presidential aide Vladimir Medinsky. Zelensky has confirmed that the Ukrainian delegation will led by Defense Minister Rustem Umerov.
Ukraine unilaterally withdrew from previous talks in 2022 after then UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson came to Kiev and told them to “just keep fighting,” the head of the Ukrainian delegation at the time, David Arakhamia, later told the media.
