White House comments on talks between U.S. officials and Russia about Ukraine

National Security Council Strategic Communications Coordinator John Kirby said this in an interview with CBS News, Ukrinform reports.

"We are aware that certain private entities and individuals have had discussions on their own, without our active participation or our support, with Russian officials. […] Sometimes we get informed about these things [after they have taken place.] But I want to make it clear that these discussions were not encouraged or engendered by us and we were not supporting them in any active way," Kirby said.

He added that the White House adheres to a clear position of "nothing about Ukraine without Ukraine."

"We've been very clear publicly and privately with the Ukrainians -- and they understand that -- that we will not engage in negotiations to end this war without them, without them at the table and without their perspectives," Kirby said.

Earlier, NBC News reported that a group of former senior U.S. national security officials has held secret talks with Russian officials, including Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov, with the aim of laying the groundwork for negotiations to end the war in Ukraine.

An official in the office of Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said that it would not comment on specific news reports based on unnamed sources but that its overall position remained the same: the fate of Ukraine cannot be decided without Ukraine.

Andriy Yermak, the head of Zelensky's office, said that Ukraine would be ready to discuss a long-term settlement of the conflict with Russia after the withdrawal of its troops from Ukrainian territory.