U.S. officials have little optimism about peace talks between Ukraine and Russia, a senior State Department adviser told Spectrum News on Friday, as the Biden administration works to surge deliveries of heavier weapons to Ukraine and implement a new refugee pipeline for people who have fled the country.

What You Need To Know

  • U.S. officials have little optimism about peace talks between Ukraine and Russia, a senior State Department adviser told Spectrum News on Friday

  • Derek Chollet, a State Department counselor and senior policy adviser to secretary of state Antony Blinken, detailed ongoing U.S. efforts to support Ukraine in an interview

  • Chollet said the U.S. is working to rebuild the "muscles" of the refugee program and to expedite processing for Ukrainian refugees

  • He also said American support of Ukrainians is critical, especially as more begin to arrive and resettle in the United States

Russia’s top diplomat on Friday said talks to end the fighting in Ukraine have “ground to a halt,” because Moscow hasn’t received any response from Kyiv to its most recent set of proposals. Ukrainian and Russian officials last met in person for talks at the end of March.

“The United States is not currently talking to the Russians about the situation in Ukraine,” Derek Chollet, a State Department counselor and senior policy adviser to secretary of state Antony Blinken, said in an interview.

“Unfortunately, there doesn't seem to be much hope or reason for optimism in those discussions,” he added.

Chollet also detailed some of the State Department’s efforts in the meantime, including their role in implementing a program that launches next week to make it easier for Ukrainians to reach the United States. President Joe Biden has pledged to welcome up to 100,000 Ukrainian nationals.

“We're working to try to expedite in a transparent and equitable way those Ukrainians who are fleeing their country,” he said, adding: “The burden is largely on those countries closest to Ukraine: Poland and other countries that are accepting millions of refugees.”

The refugee process usually takes an average of two years to complete, but U.S. officials have developed a new pipeline that allows Americans and organizations to directly financially sponsor Ukrainians.

One challenge ahead is a lack of resettlement resources, which were depleted due to lower refugee admissions under President Donald Trump and were stretched as thousands of Afghans arrived in the United States after their tumultuous evacuation out of Kabul last year. 

“We have really tried to work in the last 18 months to build up the muscles to be able to deal with the migration crisis writ large,” Chollet told Spectrum News. “Clearly, there are going to be resource challenges.”

He called on Americans to “step up” through not only sponsorship but through donations of things like food and clothing to help resettlement organizations support incoming Ukrainians. 

The Biden administration meanwhile has committed $3.4 billion in military aid to Ukraine since the Russian invasion began, including another $800 million round of heavier weapons unveiled Thursday that will include more artillery, ammunition, tactical vehicles and drones.

That direct security aid in combination with American support will be key, Chollet noted Friday.

“This is a war that Ukrainians are fighting. They're the ones in the trenches, they're the ones dying, they're the ones leaving their homes,” he said.

Watch the full interview with State Department counselor Derek Chollet in the player above. The Associated Press contributed to this report.