US President Donald Trump’s special envoy to Russia and Ukraine, Keith Kellogg, has joked about the president’s ambitious campaign promise to put a swift end to the Ukraine conflict.
In a speech at the Council on Foreign Relations on Thursday, Kellogg quipped that no specific time frame had been set.
“Remember the president said he was going to end the war in 24 hours. We didn’t say what day or what year,” the envoy said, eliciting laughter from the audience.
The White House is trying to mediate an end to the hostilities between Ukraine and Russia. Trump’s approach so far has included direct talks with Moscow and seeking to leverage economic agreements and sanctions.
Washington has also halted military aid and suspended intelligence sharing with Kiev. According to Kellogg, the Ukrainians “brought it on themselves.”
Last week’s meeting between Trump and Ukraine’s Vladimir Zelensky at the White House descended into an argument. The US president, along with Vice President J.D. Vance, confronted Zelensky about not being grateful enough for the billions of dollars in US aid given to Kiev since the escalation of the conflict with Russia three years ago, and claimed he was not ready for peace. Zelensky has so far refused to apologize for his role in the tense exchange.
Trump plans to “reset relations with Russia” and withdraw from the “endless proxy war” in Ukraine, Kellogg has stated.
Moscow has praised Washington’s attempts to restore relations and its new approach to the Ukraine conflict.
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