U.S. President Donald Trump has instructed his special representative Keith Kellogg to end the war in Ukraine within a hundred days. However, very few believe he will be able to achieve this.
This is reported by the Wall Street Journal.
The U.S. Secretary of State on the war in Ukraine: we want to end it so it doesn’t recur in a few yearsThe administration of President Donald Trump aims to conclude the war in Ukraine in a way that it does not restart in a few years, stated Secretary of State Marco Rubio.According to the publication, Kellogg's appointment is likely the first step in peace negotiations that Trump intends to oversee personally. However, reaching an agreement with Vladimir Putin will be a much more complicated task than Trump envisioned during his election campaign.
He promised to end the conflict even before taking office, but that did not happen. On the day of Trump’s inauguration, Putin made it clear that he was in no rush to settle the war against Ukraine. He stated that “the goal of any upcoming negotiations should not be a temporary ceasefire, nor a pause for regrouping and rearming to subsequently continue the conflict, but a long-term peace.”
Kellogg, as the special representative for Ukraine, will advise Trump on negotiations. But, as the publication notes, it is unclear whether Trump needs such advice. According to former National Security Advisor John Bolton, Trump has said he likes Kellogg because he “never shares his opinion until I ask him.”
Former colleagues of Kellogg assert that he has never been a diplomat and, judging by his experience working in the White House, he will not participate in any real negotiations with Russia.
“Trump enjoys his company and sees him as a fiercely loyal guy, but he has never wielded any significant political influence. He certainly won’t devise anything that diverges from what Trump aims for,” added a former National Security Council staffer who worked with Kellogg in the Trump administration.
Former colleagues of Kellogg state that he was appointed special representative for Ukraine due to a peace plan he proposed last year. The plan called for a ceasefire and resolution through negotiations, using a carrot-and-stick approach to compel both Russians and Ukrainians to commence talks.
As a concession to Russia, the plan suggested that NATO refrain from admitting Ukraine, and it also proposed easing sanctions against the Russian Federation in exchange for signing a peace agreement. Ukraine was threatened with a halt in military aid if it refused to engage in negotiations.
Meanwhile, Russia has shown no interest in cooperating with Kellogg.
Recall that U.S. President Donald Trump stated that Putin is “destroying” Russia by refusing to make a deal to end the war against Ukraine. He also hinted at the introduction of new sanctions if Russia continues to reject negotiations.
Keith Kellogg previously stated that Trump intends not to repeat the experience of the Minsk agreements, which “turned out to be failures.”
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