Keith Kellogg is set to visit Kiev next month, and reportedly also plans to travel to London, Paris and Rome, according to sources
US President-elect Donald Trump’s special envoy for Ukraine and Russia, Keith Kellogg, is said to be open to traveling to Moscow sometime after visiting Kiev next month, Bloomberg reported on Wednesday citing a person familiar with the situation.
According to the outlet, a visit by Kellogg to Russia would be focused on gathering information rather than implementing any specific policy. He is already reportedly planning to visit London, Paris, and Rome, according to Bloomberg’s source, who noted that these plans have not yet been finalized.
The retired general, who previously served in national security roles during Trump’s first term, was designated last month as the future administration’s key figure in trying to negotiate a peace settlement between Moscow and Kiev.
According to media reports, Kellogg and another former Trump aide, Fred Fleitz, have supposedly co-authored a proposal for ending the Russia-Ukraine conflict, which would involve freezing the conflict along the current line of confrontation without recognizing Russia’s sovereignty over territories claimed by Kiev. It also envisions delaying consideration of Kiev’s NATO membership until a later date. However, both Moscow and Kiev have dismissed the supposed plan as a non-starter.
Trump has repeatedly claimed that he would end the Ukraine conflict within “24 hours” of taking office next month, but has not provided any specifics about how he would do this. Some have speculated that he could use future US military and financial aid to Ukraine as a means of pressuring both Kiev and Moscow to come to the negotiating table.
Kellogg has suggested that Trump would likely be able to solve the Ukraine conflict “within the next few months,” speculating that the future president could potentially even invite Russian President Vladimir Putin and Ukraine’s Vladimir Zelensky to his inauguration.
On Tuesday, Trump himself suggested that he would be open to speaking with both leaders in a bid to stop the “carnage” between Moscow and Kiev.
Meanwhile, Putin has stated that he wouldn’t mind speaking to Trump or even calling him first, noting that the president-elect’s statements on ending the Ukraine conflict “deserve attention.”
However, Moscow has repeatedly stressed that any settlement of the conflict must begin with Ukraine ceasing military operations, acknowledging the realities “on the ground,” committing to neutrality, and pledging never to join NATO or other military alliances.
