— I am here, of course, to make a contribution (Europeans), but erstwhile we sit at the table, there will truly be 2 protagonists (...) and an intermediary," said president Trump's envoy during the "Ukrainian lunch" organised by the Ukrainian Yalta European Summit (YES) at the margin of the Munich safety Conference.
As he said, the protagonists are Russia and Ukraine, and the United States is simply a middleman. According to Kellogg, European countries will not be at the table to avoid repeating the situation of the Minsk negotiations (with the participation of Russia, Ukraine, France and Germany) erstwhile “we had many people at the table who did not truly have the ability to enforce any kind of peace”.
— I know it may sound like the sound of nails on the board, that it might be a small pinching, but I'm telling you something that's rather honest," the general pointed out.
As he said, the negotiation process takes place on 2 paths. The first — talks with Russia — is liable for a peculiar emissary for the mediate East, Steve Witkoff, and the second — talks with European allies and Ukraine, himself.
— We besides do not exclude the Alliance, due to the fact that erstwhile we make a final decision on this matter, everyone will be involved, not just, by the way, not just Europe," he said.
As he stressed, the intent of the US is to halt bloodshed and to guarantee a lasting peace respecting Ukraine's sovereignty, which will require genuine safety guarantees. However, he admitted that he had not yet been able to find what they would look like, due to the fact that that was the case with his discussions with European partners.
He announced that he was going to collect opinions on this subject and then present a number of options to president Trump. He said it was Trump, and he's not gonna make the decision. He besides stressed that, despite erstwhile statements on the exclusion of NATO or the return to the 1991 borders, nothing was "taken off the table".
Kellogg said that more specifics could be expected in "another days and weeks", not in six months, and that he had set himself a deadline of 100 days to scope an agreement.
