President-elect Donald Trump’s envoy for Ukraine will visit kyiv and several other European capitals in early January, as the next administration attempts to quickly end the war between Russia and Ukraine, according to two sources with knowledge of the organization of the trip.
Retired Lt. Gen. Keith Kellogg, who is expected to be Mr. Trump’s special envoy for Ukraine and Russia, does not plan to visit Moscow during the trip, said the sources, who requested anonymity to discuss private matters.
Instead, he will visit high-ranking leaders in kyiv, and his team is working to arrange meetings with leaders in other European capitals, such as Rome and Paris, the sources said. Arrangements for the trip are still being finalized and the itinerary could be changed, one of the sources warned.
The meetings are expected to focus on fact-finding on behalf of the new Trump administration, rather than active negotiations, the sources said. Nonetheless, the planned trip illustrates the urgency the president-elect places on stopping the war in Ukraine.
Mr. Trump has promised to end the war within 24 hours of taking office, if not before. Former intelligence and national security officials have expressed doubts that such a feat could be achieved, in part because Russian President Vladimir Putin may have little reason to sit at the negotiating table, at least under conditions acceptable to kyiv.
A representative for Mr. Trump’s transition team did not immediately respond to a request for comment, nor did representatives of the Ukrainian and Italian embassies in Washington. It was not immediately possible to contact a representative of the French embassy in Washington.
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