Kellogg‘s visit comes amid a tense atmosphere as Trump adopts increasingly hostile rhetoric toward President Volodymyr Zelensky while planning a meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin.
On his first day in Kyiv, Kellogg met Commander-in-Chief Oleksandr Syrskyi, Presidential Office head Andriy Yermak, and intelligence and security chiefs, Zelensky revealed.
„We discussed in detail the situation on the battlefield, the ways to repatriate all our prisoners of war, as well as effective security guarantees. From the very first moment of this war, Ukraine has been striving for peace. We can and must achieve a durable and lasting peace to ensure that Russia never returns with war,“ he said.
„It was a good conversation with many details [discussed]. I am grateful to the United States for all its assistance and bipartisan support for Ukraine and the Ukrainian people,“ Zelenskyy said in the message.
He also thanked Kellogg for their joint efforts in achieving important results.
(February 19, 2025)
U.S. special envoy for Ukraine and Russia, Keith Kellogg, will arrive in Ukraine on Feb. 19, traveling by overnight train from Poland. His visit will last three days, though the schedule is still being finalized.
Kellogg specified that he is working on the American-Ukrainian-allied track, while the US President‘s Special Representative for the Middle East, Steve Witkoff, is working on the Russian track.
(November 27, 2024)
To convince Russian President Vladimir Putin to join peace talks, „President Biden and other NATO leaders should offer to put off NATO membership for Ukraine for an extended period in exchange for a comprehensive and verifiable peace deal with security guarantees,“ the pair wrote.
Meanwhile, Ukraine „would not be asked to relinquish the goal of regaining all its territory,“ but would agree to try to do so through diplomacy, with the recognition it probably won‘t happen until after Putin leaves office.