US President Donald Trump's special envoy for Ukraine and Russia has revealed the White House boss's intentions if Kyiv can agree to a ceasefire with Moscow in the coming months.
In a recent interview with Reuters, Keith Kellogg, President Trump's special envoy for Ukraine and Russia, revealed that the US wants Ukraine to hold elections by the end of this year, if Kyiv can agree to a ceasefire with Russia in the coming months.
Ukrainian servicemen prepare to fire a Giatsint-B artillery gun towards Russian soldiers at a frontline position in Kharkiv province, Ukraine, on January 6.
Mr. Kellogg stressed that Ukraine's presidential and parliamentary elections, which were suspended during the conflict with Russia, "need to be held." "Most democracies have elections in wartime... I think that's good for democracy. That's the beauty of a strong democracy, you have more than one person who can run," Mr. Kellogg said in an interview, according to Reuters on February 1.
Trump's plan
Both President Trump and Mr. Kellogg have said they are developing a plan to broker a deal in the first few months of the Trump administration to end the nearly three-year-old Russia-Ukraine conflict.
Mr Trump’s plan is still in development and no policy decisions have been made, but Mr Kellogg and other White House officials have discussed in recent days pushing Ukraine to agree to hold elections as part of an initial ceasefire deal with Russia, Reuters reported, citing two people familiar with the matter.
Trump administration officials are also debating whether to push for an initial cease-fire before trying to broker a more permanent deal, according to two sources. If Ukraine’s presidential election takes place, the winner could be responsible for negotiating a long-term pact with Moscow.
It is unclear how Mr Trump’s proposal would be received in Kyiv. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has said Kyiv could hold elections this year if the fighting ends and there are strong security guarantees to prevent Russia from sending troops into Ukraine again.
Mr. Donald Trump met Mr. Volodymyr Zelensky in New York City (USA) on September 27, 2024
A senior Kyiv adviser and a Ukrainian government source confirmed that the Trump administration has not yet formally asked Kyiv to hold presidential elections later this year.
Mr Zelensky's five-year presidential term is supposed to end in 2024, but presidential and parliamentary elections cannot be held under martial law, imposed by Kyiv after Russia launched its military operation in Ukraine on February 24, 2022.
Difficult to reach a ceasefire agreement soon?
Washington has raised the issue of elections with senior officials in President Zelensky’s office in 2023 and 2024 under the administration of US President Joe Biden, according to two former senior US officials. US State Department and White House officials have told the Ukrainian side that elections are important for upholding international norms and democracy.
Meanwhile, officials in Kyiv have opposed the elections in conversations with Washington in recent months, telling officials under President Biden that holding the election at a volatile moment in Ukraine’s history would divide Ukrainian leaders and potentially invite a Russian influence campaign, according to two former U.S. officials.
Asked about what the former Western official and two others had told Reuters, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov replied: "We have no such information." Earlier, Interfax news agency on January 27 quoted Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov as saying that direct contacts between Moscow and the Trump administration had not yet taken place.
Russian President Vladimir Putin has said he does not think President Zelensky is a legitimate leader without a new election term and believes he has no legal right to sign binding documents related to a potential peace deal.
However, according to the Russian leader, Mr. Zelensky can participate in negotiations in the meantime but must first cancel the 2022 decree. That decree prohibits negotiations with Russia while Mr. Putin is in power.
Some former US officials said they were skeptical that a peace deal could be reached in the coming months or elections in 2025, as both sides appeared to be at odds over how to start formal negotiations, Reuters reported.
The Kremlin has repeatedly stated that President Putin is ready to negotiate without preconditions. Meanwhile, former US Ambassador to Ukraine William Taylor said that Mr. Putin has not shown any readiness for serious negotiations.
For his part, Mr. Zelensky is seeking security guarantees from the United States and Europe as part of any deal, including the deployment of foreign military forces to the front lines to ensure Russia adheres to a potential ceasefire, according to Reuters.
Source: https://thanhnien.vn/he-lo-ke-hoach-moi-cua-ong-trump-ve-xung-dot-nga-ukraine-185250202103104122.htm
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