The American publication writes that the war seems doomed to drag on for a long time, provoking a devastating ruin in Ukraine and a powerful humanitarian crisis..

When Russia launched its invasion of Ukraine two weeks ago, the world almost unanimously expected that it would soon achieve victory over its western neighbor.. But now that Ukrainians are stubbornly resisting Russian forces, blockading them on the borders of nearly every major city, the Joe Biden administration and its allies say they see no clear end to the military phase of this conflict..

The Washington Post writes about this, citing 17 administration officials, diplomats, politicians and experts.. The situation seems doomed to descend into an even deadlier and more protracted conflict, leading to devastation in Ukraine and a major humanitarian crisis.. With the start of the third week of the war, President Biden and his team are also moving into a darker and more difficult phase of the conflict, when the new challenge is to control what cannot be controlled, namely Russian President Vladimir Putin and his ultimate goal, whatever it may be..

The Biden administration has successfully encouraged NATO and other Western allies to use almost every lever available to impose sanctions and punish Putin.. But all these efforts have so far had little effect on the Russian president, who has only stepped up his military offensive against the cities..

Any result will be a loss for everyone. Even if Russia fails, Ukraine will remain in ruins, and its European neighbors will be left with the burden of a humanitarian crisis.. The UN Human Rights Office reports that from February 24 to this day, 516 Ukrainian civilians, including 37 children, have died.. However, the department notes that real losses can be much larger.. And a U.S. defense official said Russian casualties were about 4,000 soldiers..

“The longer this goes on, the more likely it becomes that Russia is losing. But also more people will die,” an unnamed European diplomat, who agreed to speak on condition of anonymity, told the publication..

Jim Townsend, former Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense for Europe and NATO Policy, said "

“The endgame will be very difficult, because you have to deal with Putin, whatever he is, get Ukraine back on its feet, and also think about what to do with sanctions,” Townsend said..

The current US strategy, according to a senior Biden administration official, is to take care of the high economic cost of the war for Russia, as well as military support for Ukraine, so that Russian losses are as high as possible.. But U.S. military aid remains limited as Biden made it clear his country does not want to go into direct confrontation with a nuclear Russia.. US President says he won't send troops to Ukraine. In addition, he and other NATO leaders ruled out Zelensky's calls to close the Ukrainian skies..

And despite ongoing diplomatic efforts to invade, Biden administration officials have had virtually no contact with Putin since the start of the war, indicating the Kremlin lacks the seriousness to negotiate.. Now, at the turn of the third week of the war, Washington also has not entered into any direct conversations with the Russian government about a possible withdrawal to reduce violence or end the bloodshed.. An American official told the publication that the US government still maintained open channels with Russia after the start of the conflict, including through the embassy in Moscow.. In addition, there is a telephone channel of communication with the Russian Ministry of Defense through the Headquarters of the US European Command.

The publication recalls that the governments of France, Israel, Turkey and Ukraine have maintained open channels of communication with the Kremlin since the beginning of the war.. But all the talks came to nothing. Foreign diplomats hope to convince Putin to ease his demands for a " However, US and French officials are skeptical of such talk.. Today's talks between the foreign ministers of Ukraine and the Russian Federation in Turkey have not yielded anything that could at least slightly alleviate the humanitarian situation. Despite the gloomy outlook, US officials say they are in no rush to contact Putin directly because they see his views on diplomacy as frivolous..

“It is important to remember that during this crisis created by Putin and Russia, we have tried to offer a possible way out to President Putin.. He's the only one who can decide to agree to use this exit.. But until now, at every opportunity to do so, he stepped on the gas pedal and continued to rush along his terrible road, ”said Secretary of State Anthony Blinken..

He added that the Biden administration expects a “strategic defeat” for Putin and Russia, despite any “short-term gains in Ukraine.”.

A senior State Department official told the Washington Post there was little indication that "

“It is difficult to propose any initiatives when the Kremlin’s position remains in the spirit of: “We will destroy Ukraine until it changes its constitution… demilitarized and denazified,” whatever that means,” the official said..

But some analysts caution that the Biden administration cannot afford to just sit back and let others negotiate with Moscow amid full-scale Russian bombing of Ukraine's most populous centers..

“The Russians are not going to make concessions sitting at the table with the French, Turks, Israelis or Ukrainians,” said Jeremy Shapiro, research director at the European Council on Foreign Relations..

Rand Corp senior political scientist Samuel Charap also said trying to negotiate directly with Russia using some leverage created by the latest sanctions and other economic restrictions makes sense.. Even if the chances of Putin backing down or changing his goals are slim.

“We need to ensure that the US president becomes the one who tries to push the path to change his military goals, to negotiations with Zelensky and a ceasefire,” Charap said..