Trump instructs special envoy to resolve Ukraine conflict in 100 days — newspaper
Department of Research, Studies and International News 22-01-2025
Trump is determined to control peace talks himself, the Wall Street Journal notes
US President Donald Trump has handed his special envoy for Ukraine Keith Kellogg the job of ending the Ukraine conflict in 100 days, the Wall Street Journal reports.
According to the newspaper, “dealmaking with Russian President Vladimir Putin will be far more difficult than Trump promised on the campaign trail, when he said he would end the conflict before he took office.”
Trump is determined to control peace talks himself, the Wall Street Journal adds.
Former colleagues of Kellogg say that he cannot be described as an independent figure and has never served as a diplomat, so he is unlikely to take part “in any real negotiations with Russia.”
Trump did not rule out on January 7 that resolving the Ukraine issue could take more than 24 hours, a timeframe he had set during his election campaign. Kellogg, in turn, said that he would like to meet a 100-day deadline.
On January 21, Trump told reporters that the US could stop supplying weapons to Ukraine and reiterated his readiness to meet with Russian President Vladimir Putin.
Putin said earlier that Moscow was open to dialogue on the Ukraine conflict with the new US administration, with the priority being to address the root causes of the crisis. He confirmed that Russia was taking note of statements by Trump and his team members about their willingness to restore contact and the need to do everything possible to prevent World War III.
