US Official: Putin Hits Hard The US administration believes that Russian President Vladimir Putin, despite ongoing strikes on Ukrainian territory, remains willing to discuss ending the conflict. A US official told Axios this while commenting on the preparation of new diplomatic initiatives. An unnamed White House official: Putin is hitting hard, but we think he's open to discussing ending the war. We want to work on a new proposal that will be good enough to make him stop. According to Axios, Washington is trying to develop an updated settlement plan. On October 9, in Miami, American representatives Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner, as previously reported by VO, held talks with the Ukrainian delegation and European accompanying officials. Among t... Read more>>>