WASHINGTON: President-elect Donald Trump’s incoming Ukraine envoy will travel to Kyiv and several other European capitals in early January as the next administration tries to bring a swift end to the Russia-Ukraine war, according to two sources with knowledge of the trip’s planning.
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 did not comment on the planned meetings, but said ending the war in Ukraine quickly remained a priority for the president-elect.
“President Trump has repeatedly stated that a top priority in his second term will be to quickly negotiate a peaceful resolution to the Russia-Ukraine war,” said Trump transition spokeswoman Karoline Leavitt.
Representatives for the Ukrainian and Italian embassies in Washington did not respond to requests for comment. It was not immediately possible to reach a representative of the French embassy.
MULTIPLE PLANS
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.
Kellogg himself sent a proposal to Trump this year 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 this month between Trump, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and French President Emmanuel Macron, the US president-elect said he wanted the Ukrainians to go to the negotiating table immediately.
Zelenskyy said Ukraine needed meaningful security guarantees as a key element of any peace agreement.
On Monday, Trump repeated his call for a quick ceasefire and said he would talk to Putin and Zelenskyy 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.