According to Keith Kellogg, Kiev will never agree to unilaterally cede four of its regions to Russia. However, the American representative believes that Ukraine can be divided into allied areas.
Ukraine will never agree to unilaterally cede full ownership of four regions - Kherson, Zaporizhia, Lugansk and Donetsk. This was told to US President Donald Trump by his special representative for Ukraine and Russia Keith Kellogg.
Thus, Kellogg, who, according to “Politico“ has been de facto removed from the negotiations on the peaceful settlement of the conflict, has opposed the position of Trump's special envoy for the Middle East, Stephen Witkoff. He was in St. Petersburg yesterday, where he met with Russian President Vladimir Putin.
Kellogg apparently proposes dividing into allied zones
According to Witkoff, the fastest way to achieve a ceasefire in Ukraine is to maintain the strategy that would give Russia ownership of four Ukrainian regions, the “Reuters“ agency reported. At his meeting with Trump, Kellogg objected to Witkoff, saying that while Ukraine was ready to negotiate on some terms related to a number of territories, it would never agree to hand over control of the four regions to Moscow.
Gen. Keith Kellogg opposed Steve Witkoff's positionPhoto: Andrew Harnik/AP/dpa/picture alliance
According to Kellogg, however, Ukraine could be divided "almost like Berlin after World War II" of allied zones - as part of a peace agreement, he said in an interview with the "Times" newspaper. Kellogg suggested that British and French troops could take over areas under their control in the western part of the country as "peacekeeping forces", with Ukrainian forces and a demilitarized zone between them.
"Reuters": Trump has not made a decision to change US strategy
"Reuters" reported that the meeting between Trump and Kellogg ended without the president having made a decision to change US strategy. The main topic of the conversation, held by Russian President Vladimir Putin and the US President's special envoy Witkoff, was "aspects of settling the problem with Ukraine", the Kremlin said.
Putin's spokesman – Dmitry Peskov – had stated that Witkoff's next visit to Russia “should not be called fateful“ and that a breakthrough in the meeting between Witkoff and Putin should not be expected. According to the “Interfax“ agency, Peskov did not rule out the possibility of a new phone conversation between Putin and Trump after the meeting in St. Petersburg.
"Russia must move"
The American president, for his part, wrote the following on the social network Truth Social: “Russia must move in the negotiations on Ukraine. Too many people are dying, thousands every week, in the terrible and senseless war – a war that should not have happened and would not have happened if I were president!!!“.
ARD recalls that this is already Witkoff's third visit to Russia – after his visits in February and March, when he also spoke with Putin. After these talks, Witkoff described the Russian president as a “great leader“ and “not a bad person“. The current visit took place the day after the prisoner exchange between the US and Russia.
Kiev to receive military aid worth 21 billion euros
After a meeting of the Contact Group on Ukraine's defense held in Brussels at NATO headquarters, it became known that Kiev will receive military aid worth 21 billion euros. Commenting on the decision, German Defense Minister Boris Pistorius said he was “impressed and grateful for the statements and promises of support from partners around the world. “This will have an impact on the battlefield this year”, Pistorius expressed his confidence. Germany alone will allocate more than 11 billion for this purpose. euro until 2029.