Aide to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said that the US call for Ukraine to hold elections after it agrees with Russia on a ceasefire looks like a “failed plan“, if that is all it contains, Reuters reported, quoted by BTA.
Yesterday, US President Donald Trump's envoy – Keith Kellogg, the U.S. envoy for Russia and Ukraine, told Reuters that the United States wants Ukraine to hold elections potentially by the end of the year, especially if Kiev agrees to a ceasefire with Russia in the coming months.
“We have not seen Mr. Kellogg's full interview, only a few quotes about the elections, so it is difficult to fully assess his position“, Dmitry Lytvyn, Zelensky's presidential communications director, said today.
“But if his plan is just a ceasefire and elections, it is a failed plan. Putin will not be afraid of just those two things,“ Litvin told Reuters in a written statement.
Kiev has repeatedly said it does not want a ceasefire without security guarantees that would stop Moscow from rebuilding its forces and launching a new invasion in the future. The elections are currently banned under martial law, which Ukraine imposed after Russia's invasion of Ukraine in 2022.
Lytvyn said Ukraine would prefer to see what he described as a more in-depth approach from officials from key partners.
“But we do not forget that President Trump, in his meetings with President Zelensky, spoke deeply and wisely about the situation and what could actually put pressure on Putin“, he said.
Lytvyn said it was important to quickly move to “real work between the teams on a concrete plan to end the war and ensure lasting peace“.
Earlier, Keith Kellogg said that Ukraine and Russia would have to make concessions, quoted by Agence France-Presse and BTA.
“Both camps will have to make concessions. "That's how negotiations work, and I think both sides will make concessions," Kellogg told Fox News. He added that things can only go in that direction.
"It's in our interest, both here in the United States and internationally, to make sure that we end this conflict that's been going on for almost three years," Kellogg said. "And I think President Trump is the only person who can do that. I have great confidence that this will work," he said.
"The only person Putin is really willing to discuss with, because he criticizes other leaders, is President Trump," Kellogg insisted.
"We'll talk to everyone, and then probably in the near future we'll find ways to end this conflict. "This is a good thing for both sides," he stressed.
Since Donald Trump returned to the White House, the prospect of talks between Moscow and Kiev has been mentioned more and more often. The American president has criticized the amount of money spent by the United States on aid to Ukraine, but has also taken a tough tone with Moscow, which has threatened additional sanctions.
Last month, Russian President Vladimir Putin said he was ready for talks with Ukraine, but not with Volodymyr Zelensky, whom he described as "illegitimate." "He is not the one who decides," the American envoy said today, referring to Putin.