US hopes Zelensky will negotiate with Putin as nuclear war threat looms

A report has claimed the US hopes to pressure Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky to remain open to negotiations with Russia.

Zelensky has been steadfast in his opposition to talks with Russia, insisting that Vladimir Putin's invaders must be removed from Ukraine's territory.

He has offered little to no compromise on this stance and the US says the move is merely to make sure Ukraine continues to be backed by the West.

One US official told The Washington Post: "Ukraine fatigue is a real thing for some of our partners."

Earlier this week, the US announced roughly $400 million (£348 million) in additional security assistance for their ally in Europe and has committed to $18.9 billion ($16.4 billion) overall.

Reports say the US hope Ukraine will be open to negotiations in the future ( Image: Anadolu Agency via Getty Images)

The barbarity of Putin's invasion has had profound effects on life in Ukraine.

At least 7,536,433 Urkainian refugees have been registered outside of their native land since as late as September this year. Civilian casualties are also approaching the 10,000 mark.

There are severe problems occurring outside the country as a direct result and this may influence the position of Western backers as their populations face up to a range of struggles.

Ukraine relies heavily on aid from the US but factions within the Republican party are threatening to oppose cash and weapons bundles in Congress after the Midterm elections.

Sanctions placed on Russia mean gas prices have shot up ahead of what could be a very difficult winter for many in Western Europe, whose countries have turned away from much of their Russian supplies.

There is also the looming concern about the use of nuclear weapons.

President Joe Biden has likened the current situation to the biggest threat since the Cuban Missile Crisis in 1962 and reports say the US is alarmed about some of the 'sabre-rattling' from Putin's Russia.

White House national security spokesman John Kirby said: "We have grown increasingly concerned about the potential as these months have gone on."

On Putin, Kirby added: "It increasingly is unsettling in terms of the degree to which he feels he has to continue to stretch to prosecute this war."

Despite this, US intelligence does not appear to have picked up the relevant 'chatter' for immediate concern, though the risk remains.

Security expert Dr Rod Thornton of the Defence Studies Department at King's College London previously told the Mirror: "You wouldn't know they were going to use things just from observation.

"What you would notice is you would get a lot of signals chatter because there is a huge command chain that has to be involved if you are going to start using nuclear weapons. [This] would be picked up by Western intelligence."

Use of a smaller 'tactical' nuclear weapon may appeal to Russia, but this would still cause devastation and a bang equivalent to the size of the Hiroshima bomb.