Trump’s Ukraine envoy plans January trip to Kyiv, other European capitals
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Retired Lieutenant-General Keith Kellogg does not plan to visit Moscow in January, sources said.
PHOTO: AFP
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WASHINGTON - President-elect Donald Trump's incoming Ukraine envoy
Retired Lieutenant-General Keith Kellogg, who is set to serve as Trump's special envoy for Ukraine and Russia, is not planning to visit Moscow during this trip, said the sources, who requested anonymity to discuss private matters.
Instead, he will visit senior leaders in Kyiv, and his team is working to set up meetings with leaders in other European capitals, such as Rome and Paris, said the sources.
Planning for the trip is still being finalised and the itinerary could change, one of the sources warned.
The meetings are expected to focus on "fact-finding" on behalf of the incoming Trump administration, rather than on active negotiations, the sources said.
Still, the planned trip, which is due to begin shortly after New Year’s Day, illustrates the urgency the president-elect has placed on winding down the war in Ukraine.
Trump has promised to end the war within 24 hours of taking office, if not before.
Former intelligence and national-security officials have expressed doubt that such a feat can be accomplished, in part because Russian President Vladimir Putin may have little reason to come to the negotiating table, at least on terms acceptable to Kyiv.
A representative for Trump's transition team did not immediately respond to a request for comment, nor did representatives of the Ukrainian and Italian embassies in Washington.
It was not immediately possible to reach a representative of the French embassy in Washington.
Allies and advisers to Trump have advocated or outlined multiple plans to wind down the Ukraine war, all of which would result in Ukraine ceding large parts of the country to Russia for the foreseeable future.
Lt-Gen Kellogg himself sent a proposal to Trump in 2024 that would see battle lines frozen and Nato membership taken off the table in the near term for Ukraine.
But he has also indicated his proposal was a starting point and that the incoming Trump administration is still working on a definitive plan.
During a private meeting in December between Trump, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and French President Emmanuel Macron, the US President-elect said he wanted the Ukrainians to go to the negotiating table immediately.
Mr Zelensky said Ukraine needed meaningful security guarantees as a key element of any peace agreement.
On Dec 17, Trump repeated his call for a quick ceasefire and said he would talk to Mr Putin and Mr Zelensky about bringing the war to an end.
“Gotta make a deal,” Trump said at a news conference at his Mar-a-Lago club in Palm Beach, Florida. REUTERS
