Joe Biden did not approve of secret meetings between national security officials and Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov, a government spokesman said, as quoted by Sky News.

Former US officials held secret talks with Russian nationals close to the Kremlin, including Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov, to discuss Ukraine’s future, US NBC reported on Thursday.

In response, a spokesman for the US State Department said: “The Biden administration did not authorize these discussions.”

“And as we have repeatedly said, without Ukraine there is nothing about Ukraine,” the agency added.

As reported by the American TV channel NBC, quoted by the EFE and Agerpres agencies, the meeting with Lavrov took place in New York in April and lasted several hours.

The meeting with the Russian foreign minister was attended by Richard Haas, a veteran diplomat who resigned in June as president of the Council on Foreign Relations, an important foreign policy think tank in Washington, NBC reported, citing four former officials. US officials and two acting officials.

The meeting was also attended by European expert Charles Kupchan and Russian expert Thomas Graham, both former White House officials who now work at the Council on Foreign Relations, NBC reported.

Some of the most difficult issues to deal with in the war in Ukraine were discussed, such as the fate of territories occupied by Moscow, which Kyiv may never liberate, and the search for a diplomatic solution acceptable to both sides.

Former US officials who met with Lavrov later reported the content of the meeting to the White House’s National Security Council, which deals with foreign policy, NBC reports.

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