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Donald Trump’s pick for envoy to Ukraine and Russia said the president-elect will keep Kiev’s interests in mind as he works to reach an agreement to end the war and will aim to make sure the solution is fair. “People need to understand that he’s not trying to give anything to [Russian President Vladimir] Putin or the Russians,” said Keith Kellogg, a retired lieutenant general whom Trump has tapped as his envoy to Ukraine and Russia and tasked with leading negotiations to end the war. “He’s trying to save Ukraine and save its sovereignty,” Kellogg said in an interview with Fox News on Jan. 8.
“He’s going to make sure he’s fair, and he’s said that repeatedly,” including to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky. Trump said during his presidential campaign last year that he would end the conflict in Ukraine within 24 hours of taking office. Now he hopes to end the fighting within six months. “I hope it happens before six months,” Trump said during a press conference on January 7 when asked if he could resolve the conflict in half a year. Kellogg said he prefers a shorter timeframe, within 100 days of Trump’s inauguration as president on January 20. According to the envoy, he and Trump want to end the war as soon as possible.
Kellogg declined to reveal the content of any of his conversations with Trump about the war, saying Trump “speaks for himself” and more information on the subject will be made public after the inauguration.
He hinted that work is underway to get Trump and Putin to talk. “We will set the terms… and then he will be in a position to talk to Putin and also to President Zelensky and I think we will reach a solution in a short period of time,” Kellogg said.
However, he was not asked about the postponement of a visit he was expected to make this month to Kiev and other European capitals. Ukrainian Foreign Minister Andriy Sybiha announced on January 7 that the visit would be rescheduled.
During the interview, Kellogg criticized U.S. President Joe Biden for not communicating with Putin, saying it has been more than two years since they spoke. Trump, on the other hand, talks to both adversaries and allies, he said. “He knows you have to talk to people to get to a final solution, and that’s what we’re going to do,” Kellogg said.
Redaksia
