That will take some doing. Putin remains uninterested in peace talks as long as Russian troops continue to gain ground in Ukraine’s east, albeit at a slow pace, and while Ukrainian forces hold seized territory in the Kursk region inside Russia, according to John Herbst, a former U.S. ambassador to Ukraine, and other former officials.

Russia said that discussions with Washington were underway regarding potential peace talks to end the war nearly three years after Moscow’s full-scale invasion.

The administration of President Donald Trump is split over how to pressure Russian President Vladimir Putin and bring him to the negotiating table to end the war in Ukraine, NBC News reported on Feb.