Biden administration did not sanction unofficial talks with Russians, State Dept says

FILE PHOTO: Russian President Vladimir Putin and Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov attend a meeting with Algerian President Abdelmadjid Tebboune at the Kremlin in Moscow, Russia, June 15, 2023. Sputnik/Mikhail Metzel/Pool via REUTERS /File Photo

WASHINGTON (Reuters) -President Joe Biden's administration did not sanction or support secret meetings that former top U.S. national security officials held with Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov and other Russians on potential talks to end the Ukraine war, the White House and State Department said on Thursday.

NBC News reported that the former U.S. officials met Lavrov in New York in April, joined by Richard Haass, a former U.S. diplomat and outgoing president of the Council on Foreign Relations, and two former White House aides.