British media: An investigation revealed a secret communication channel established in 2022 by the American lawyer Richard Cohn and the banker Bob Fursman, who used President Putin, his close friend, Matthias Wernig, a former officer in the German intelligence service "Stasi", to convey messages to the Russian president against the background of the growing fear of a nuclear attack in Ukraine. According to participants, Cohn relayed messages from the White House through a warning in October 2022, and shortly thereafter, tensions subsided. The group later drafted a peace proposal involving Ukraine, which President Putin reportedly addressed, but Kiev rejected. This channel collapsed in early 2023 after Putin declared that US National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan had abandoned him. However, former US officials differ on how much support he had, saying Wernig is just one of many channels, while Wernig insists President Putin is open to a settlement.

British media: An investigation revealed a secret communication channel established in 2022 by the American lawyer Richard Cohn and the banker Bob Fursman, who used President Putin, his close friend, Matthias Wernig, a former officer in the German intelligence service "Stasi", to convey messages to the Russian president against the background of the growing fear of a nuclear attack in Ukraine. According to participants, Cohn relayed messages from the White House through a warning in October 2022, and shortly thereafter, tensions subsided. The group later drafted a peace proposal involving Ukraine, which President Putin reportedly addressed, but Kiev rejected. This channel collapsed in early 2023 after Putin declared that US National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan had abandoned him. However, former US officials differ on how much support he had, saying Wernig is just one of many channels, while Wernig insists President Putin is open to a settlement.