America’s Russia-Ukraine envoy has reportedly informed allies that he is preparing ‘end of war’ options to present to President Donald Trump in a bid to end the conflict.
Keith Kellogg has told US allies in recent meetings that he is drafting options to present to Trump, according to the Semafor news site.
He denied reports that he would be in a position to bring forward a proposal at the Munich Security Conference this week.
US allies had expected the Trump administration to present a plan in Germany, Bloomberg reported last week, citing people familiar with the matter.
Donald Trump told reporters on board Air Force One on Sunday that he believed that the U.S. was making progress towards ending the war.
Trump has repeatedly said he wants to end the war and that he will meet Putin to discuss it, though the date or venue for a summit is still not publicly known.
The Kremlin has been equally cryptic in addressing talks with the U.S., saying today that it could neither confirm nor deny whether the two leaders had yet spoken to discuss a way to end the war.
Asked whether he had had a conversation with Putin since he became president on January 20 or before, Trump said: ‘I’ve had it. Let’s just say I’ve had it…And I expect to have many more conversations. We have to get that war ended.’
‘If we are talking, I don’t want to tell you about the conversations,’ Trump said.
‘There certainly are a lot of sensitive conversations going on,’ U.S. national security advisor Mike Waltz told NBC, suggesting Trump could use sanctions and tariffs to force Russia’s hand.
Putin said last year that a deal would hinge upon Ukraine’s recognition of Russia’s claim to four regions in its east and south, including areas not controlled by Moscow.
Putin is said to be open to discussing a Ukraine peace deal with Trump but rules out making any major territorial concessions and insists Kyiv abandon ambitions to join NATO, Reuters reported in November.