Trump’s special envoy postpones visit to Kyiv
7 January 2025 08:33
The incoming US special envoy to Ukraine and Russia from the Donald Trump administration has postponed a planned study tour of Kyiv and other European capitals until after the US presidential inauguration on January 20. This was reported by four sources familiar with the trip plans, according to "Komersant Ukrainian" citing Reuters.
Retired Lt. Gen. Keith Kellogg, who is to become Trump’s special envoy to Ukraine and Russia, initially planned to visit Kyiv in early January to meet with Ukraine’s leadership. This was previously reported by Reuters. As part of this mission, his team was also organizing meetings with officials in other European capitals such as Rome and Paris.
However, according to sources who wished to remain anonymous, this trip was postponed. As noted, this was to be the first visit to Kyiv by representatives of the new administration after Trump’s victory in the November 5 election. Now Kellogg expects to travel to Ukraine after Trump takes office, but a specific date has not yet been determined.
The reasons for the delay in Kellogg’s trip are currently unknown.
During the campaign, Trump repeatedly stated that he would be able to resolve the conflict in Ukraine within 24 hours of taking office. However, there has been no real progress in this direction so far. Nevertheless, a quick resolution of the war remains one of the key priorities of his future administration.
Neither Keith Kellogg nor representatives of the Ukrainian Embassy in Washington have commented on this issue yet.
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Trump’s position on Ukraine
During the election campaign, Donald Trump repeatedly said that he would stop the war in Ukraine within 24 hours of taking office. Sometimes he suggested that this could happen even before that.
Also during the election, the media spread the so-called “Trump Plan”. The idea was that the United States would use its influence to stop the war and maintain the status quo. To do this, Trump would force Putin and Zelenskyy to sit down at the negotiating table. If Putin does not agree to negotiate, the United States will give Ukraine all the weapons it needs to win on the battlefield. If Zelenskyy refuses to negotiate, the United States will completely stop helping Ukraine.
This plan, in its various variations, stipulates that Russia retains the territories it temporarily occupies and that Ukraine does not join NATO.
However, later Trump seemed to “forget” about this plan. In particular, he voiced scenarios in which he would force Russia to capitulate due to the decline in world oil prices.
After Trump was elected President of the United States, one of his advisors, Brian Lanza, said that Ukraine should forget about Crimea. The president-elect’s entourage, however, was quick to deny this statement and said that Lanza could not speak for Trump.
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