Trump wants ‘sustainable peace’ in Ukraine – envoy
A sustainable peace between Russia and Ukraine is one of President-elect Donald Trump’s top foreign policy priorities, according to his special envoy for Ukraine and Russia, retired Army General Keith Kellogg.
In an interview with Fox News on Monday, Kellogg stated that Trump wants to “stop the killing and bring peace to the region,” describing the Ukraine conflict as the “number one international priority” for the president-elect.
According to Kellogg, Trump is seeking a peace that will be “fair… sustainable, and secure,” adding that he does not want the settlement process to go the same way as the now-defunct Minsk agreements. Signed in 2014 and brokered by Germany and France, the agreements were intended to give the Donetsk and Lugansk regions, now part of Russia, special status within the Ukrainian state.
However, former Ukrainian President Pyotr Poroshenko, as well as former German Chancellor Angela Merkel and former French President Francois Hollande have admitted that they wanted to use the ceasefire to buy time and buttress Kiev’s military.
The Minsk process “failed miserably,” Kellogg said. “The president will not go there. He understands the importance of relations he has with his allies, and also with [Russian President] Vladimir Putin as well. He is the man who can bring it to a conclusion… in a relatively near term,” he said, without commenting on how the president-elect plans to accomplish this goal.
Kellogg stressed that the Ukraine conflict is a “European-based problem,” adding that the US has been “incredibly generous” in terms of aiding Kiev. “It’s time for Europe to really step up… It’s in their neighborhood,” he stated.
The retired general was reportedly one of the authors of a peace plan that would freeze the conflict along the current front line without recognizing Russia’s sovereignty over territories claimed by Ukraine while suspending Kiev’s NATO membership ambitions.
Several Western media have reported that Kellogg will soon embark on a European tour and visit several capitals, including Kiev, Rome, and Paris, in a bid to further Trump’s long-stated goal of settling the Ukraine conflict. According to Bloomberg, Kellogg may also be open to traveling to Moscow after visiting Kiev.
Officials in Moscow have said they have had no contact on Ukraine with either Trump or his team. They have also ruled out the freezing of the conflict, insisting that all the goals of the military operation, including Kiev’s neutrality, demilitarization and denazification, must be met. However, Putin has signaled that he is open to talks with Trump.
