(Bloomberg) -- Progressive House Democrats unleashed a furor in the party two weeks before the midterm elections by issuing -- and then retracting -- a letter urging President Joe Biden to negotiate with Russian President Vladimir Putin for an end to the war in Ukraine.

The chairwoman of that wing of the party, Representative Pramila Jayapal, who has ambitions for congressional leadership, blamed the error on staff before taking responsibility herself.

Jayapal released the statement after several among the 30 members of Congress on the letter distanced themselves from it, capping an extraordinary about-face ahead of the elections that will determine whether they remain in control of the House and Senate.

“The letter was drafted several months ago, but unfortunately was released by staff without vetting,” Jayapal said. “As chair of the Caucus, I accept responsibility for this.”

Democrats are running with an unpopular president at the head of their party, soaring inflation and historical trends that favor the party out of power. The party has struggled to find a simple rallying cry on the economy, resulting in leads vanishing in several key states, and the retracted letter provided further evidence of deeper fractures.

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Representative Sara Jacobs, a California Democrat, tweeted Tuesday morning that she signed the letter when the situation on the ground in Ukraine was very different than it is now.

“Timing in diplomacy is everything,” Jacobs tweeted. “I signed this letter on June 30, but a lot has changed since then. I wouldn’t sign it today. We have to continue supporting Ukraine economically and militarily to give them the leverage they need to end this war.”

In June, Putin was installing authorities in occupied territory in preparation for the illegitimate referendums at the end of September and annexation in October. His troops kept advancing in Eastern Ukraine and unease was growing in Kyiv over the arrival of weapons from the West so it could launch a counteroffensive. 

On the economic front, Ukraine was hit at the time by frozen exports of grains that were on hold as its ports were mined, hurting the state coffers already drained by the war. 

Since then, Ukraine has staged a counter-offensive and Putin’s forces have steadily lost ground. Russia has increasingly targeted Ukraine’s civilian infrastructure in response. In September, the US approved $12 billion in new aid to Ukraine. 

Wisconsin Democrat Mark Pocan, who also signed the letter months ago, tweeted that he has “no idea why it went out now.” 

The now-retracted letter urged Biden to “pair the military and economic support the United States has provided to Ukraine with a proactive diplomatic push, redoubling efforts to seek a realistic framework for a ceasefire.”

In the retraction, Jayapal said the letter was being wrongly being viewed as equivalent with statements by some Republicans that future aid to Ukraine could be curtailed if the GOP takes control of the House after the midterm elections.

Biden administration officials said on Monday that there would be no diplomatic outreach by the US without Ukrainian involvement. White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre on Tuesday declined to comment on the letter.

“Our support for Ukraine will remain strong until the end of this war,” Jean-Pierre said at a briefing. “We’re going to continue to be in conversations with members of Congress on how to continue to move forward in order to support Ukraine in their in their efforts. Don’t have more to say about that particular letter.”

Representative Adam Smith, who chairs the Armed Services Committee, called the progressives’ letter a “tactical error” but stressed that “there is no crack in unity” among Democrats’ regarding support for Ukraine. 

The letter “fundamentally represents a misunderstanding of the current situation in Ukraine,” the Washington Democrat said in an interview, adding that negotiating with Putin now risks legitimizing his actions in Ukraine. 

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, speaking in Croatia at the First Parliamentary Summit of the International Crimea Platform, decried Putin’s “campaign of horror” in Ukraine and reaffirmed “America’s unwavering support for Ukraine.”

Senator Chris Murphy, a Connecticut Democrat, tweeted that there is a “moral and strategic peril” to trying to open talks with Putin too quickly.

“It risks legitimizing his crimes and handing over parts of Ukraine to Russia in an agreement that Putin won’t even honor,” Murphy wrote. “Sometimes, a bully must be shown the limits of his power before diplomacy can work.”

Representative Jake Auchincloss, a Massachusetts Democrat, tweeted that the progressives’ letter “is an olive branch to a war criminal who’s losing his war.”

California Representative Mark Takano, who signed the letter, said he would continue to support assistance to Ukraine and that “Only Ukrainians have a right to determine the terms by which this war ends.”

The US has committed more than $60 billion in security and humanitarian aid for Ukraine since Russia invaded in February. But there have been signs of dissent, primarily from Republicans. A package of $40 billion in assistance passed Congress in May with 57 Republicans in the House and 11 in the Senate voting against it. House GOP leader Kevin McCarthy said last week that if Republicans take the House after the midterm elections they would not write “a blank check” for Ukraine. 

However, Senate Republican leader Mitch McConnell reaffirmed his support for Ukraine and said in a statement Friday that if his party wins a Senate majority, it would “focus its oversight on ensuring timely delivery of needed weapons and greater allied assistance to Ukraine” among other foreign policy priorities.

--With assistance from Roxana Tiron, Andrea Dudik and Daryna Krasnolutska.

(Updates with White House response in 13th, 14th paragraphs)

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