Former Council on Foreign Relations Chief Defends Russia Meetings

Nick Wadhams
·3 min read
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(Bloomberg) -- The former chief of the Council on Foreign Relations, Richard Haass, confirmed he was part of a group that met with Russia’s foreign minister in April, saying such talks are important when official negotiations are “either nonexistent or unproductive.”

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In a post on Substack, Haass defended the decision but didn’t give details on who else participated or what was discussed. He said those involved spoke for themselves, not the US government, though he said “relevant government officials” were informed.

“A willingness to meet in no way connotes sympathy with much less endorsement of the views of the other side,” Haass wrote. “Since they are not official meetings, participants often feel more comfortable speaking candidly and testing new ideas or proposals. Critically, such meetings are conversations, not negotiations.”

Haass was responding to to a report by NBC News Thursday that said he and other former government officials met Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov in April and discussed some of the most complicated aspects of the war including a diplomatic resolution and what to do about Russian-held territory that Ukraine may never be able to liberate.

Asked about the report on Friday, National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan said the US government didn’t participate in the meeting, which he described as taking place between “private American citizens and Russians.”

“The United States government did not pass messages through that meeting,” Sullivan said. “The United States government did not seek to pursue diplomacy, direct, indirect or otherwise through that meeting. Period.”

While such meetings are relatively common, the report attracted criticism from Ukraine as well as some American analysts. Haass said he had been subjected to “nasty, ad hominem attacks” but his views are clear: he opposes Russia’s invasion and supports large-scale and sustained support for Ukraine.

“At the same time, I am skeptical that Ukraine will be able to liberate all of its territory any time soon using military force, and worry that an open-ended war will leave the country and its people in ruins,” Haass wrote. He cited an article he wrote calling for a ceasefire if Ukraine’s current counteroffensive fails to recapture all the territory the country wants.

“Such a cease-fire would be accompanied by a commitment to provide long-term military and economic support to Ukraine, the extension of formal security assurances, and a pathway to EU membership,” he said. Haass was president of CFR at the time of the meeting but has since retired.

Russia played down the meetings, rejecting NBC’s characterization of them as “secret talks.” Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova wrote in Telegram that Lavrov, who was in New York for a UN Security Council meeting, met members of the Council on Foreign Relations on April 24 for “ordinary discussions.” She said Lavrov regularly conducts such meetings during overseas visits.

The meeting covered “contemporary international affairs and the global agenda,” she wrote, adding that no “peace plan for Ukraine” was discussed.

(Updates with White House comment from fifth paragraph)

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