 "Ukrainian rescuers working to extinguish a fire at the site at a damaged residential building following a missile strike in Poltava, amid the Russian invasion on Ukraine. AFP Photo")
Donald Trump’s Ukraine envoy said Sunday that both Kyiv and Moscow would have to make concessions if they are to successfully negotiate a solution to the ongoing war.
In a televised Fox News interview, Keith Kellogg, a retired lieutenant general who recently returned from a visit to Ukraine said “I think both sides will give a little bit,”.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky “has already indicated he will soften his position on land,” said Kellogg, adding that Russian leader Vladimir Putin “is going to have to soften his positions as well.”
Zelensky long rejected any territorial concessions to Russia, whose troops control a large swath of southeastern Ukraine, but he faces pressure amid mounting battlefield losses and uncertainty about continued US support.
Russia, for its part, has sought assurances that Ukraine will never join NATO.
An aide to President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said on Sunday a US call for Ukraine to hold an election after agreeing a ceasefire with Russia looked like a ”failed plan” if that is all it consists of, though more details were needed.
”We haven’t seen Mr. Kellogg’s full interview, only a few quotes about the elections, so it’s hard to fully assess his position,” said Dmytro Lytvyn, Zelenskiy’s communications adviser.
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More Shorts”But if his plan is just a ceasefire and elections, it is a failed plan – Putin won’t be intimidated by just those two things,” he told Reuters in a written statement.
Lytvyn said Ukraine would prefer to see what he described as a more in-depth approach by officials in key partners.
”But we remember that President Trump, in his meetings with President Zelenskiy, spoke deeply and wisely about the situation and what could actually pressure Putin,” he said.
Ukraine has praised Trump and his ”peace through strength” approach as Kyiv tries to win the backing it needs to create the conditions for a lasting and robust peace.
Lytvyn said it was important to move quickly to ”real work between teams on a concrete plan to end the war and ensure lasting peace”.
Putin said Tuesday that his country could hold peace talks with Ukraine, but ruled out speaking directly with Zelensky, calling him “illegitimate” because his presidential term has expired.
Ukraine has not held elections since the outbreak of war and ensuing institution of martial law, which Kellogg said Sunday was permitted under the Ukrainian constitution.
With inputs from agencies