The Daily Populous Thursday January 23rd, 2025 morning edition
Authored by newsukraine.rbc.ua and submitted by Alarmed_Mistake_9999

US President Donald Trump has tasked Special Envoy for Ukraine and Russia Keith Kellogg with ending the war in Ukraine within 100 days. However, few believe he will succeed, The Wall Street Journal (WSJ) reports.

According to the source, Kellogg's role as a Special Envoy to Ukraine is likely the initial step in peace negotiations that Trump intends to oversee personally. However, reaching an agreement with Russian President Vladimir Putin will prove far more challenging than Trump promised during his campaign.

The report notes that Russia has shown no interest in cooperating with Kellogg. At the same time, the Kremlin speculates that an understanding between Trump and Putin could lead to improved US-Russia relations under Trump's presidency. Both leaders stated that they have not yet had a personal conversation but pledged to do so soon.

Former US National Security Advisor John Bolton expressed concern that Trump might push Kyiv into making damaging concessions to Moscow during future negotiations. "I think Putin knows how to play Trump, and Kellogg is unlikely to act as a counterbalance to Putin's influence," Bolton said.

"He will simply follow Trump's orders. He may briefly protest, but Trump chose Kellogg not for his independent judgment," the former US National Security Advisor added.

Kellogg's former colleagues explained that he was appointed as an envoy to Ukraine after co-authoring a peace plan that criticized the Biden administration for slow military aid delivery while accusing it of provoking Moscow by encouraging Ukraine's NATO aspirations.

This plan was published by the America First Policy Institute, a think tank aligned with Trump's policies. It called for a ceasefire and conflict resolution through negotiations using a "carrot and stick" approach to compel Russia and Ukraine to the negotiating table.

The plan recommended delaying Ukraine's NATO membership and offering Russia sanctions relief in exchange for signing a peace agreement. It also proposed halting military aid to Kyiv if the Ukrainian government refused to engage in peace talks.

The WSJ noted that Kremlin officials ridiculed the plan as unfeasible.

Meanwhile, Seth Jones, a political scientist and defense expert at the Center for Strategic and International Studies, described Kellogg as a serious analyst whose presence in Trump's circle aims to strengthen decision-making on Ukraine at the White House. However, Jones pointed out that the Kremlin's personal attacks on Kellogg and his plan bode poorly for any agreement.

"Negotiations haven't even started, and they are already attacking the lead American involved. This does not look promising for talks or even a ceasefire," the expert said.

Recently, the West has raised the issue of potential negotiations between Ukraine and Russia, particularly after Donald Trump's victory in the US presidential election.

Trump himself supports the idea of quickly ending hostilities and transitioning to dialogue. He believes Ukrainian President Zelenskyy is inclined toward reaching a peace agreement with Russia. However, Trump may impose new sanctions on Russia if Putin refuses to negotiate over the war in Ukraine.

Earlier, reports indicated that Trump's team is preparing for negotiations and a meeting with Russian leader Vladimir Putin to end the war against Ukraine. Furthermore, the Kremlin expressed readiness to meet with Trump without any preconditions.

Rob71322 on January 22nd, 2025 at 20:19 UTC »

Ending the war in one day was always unrealistic and simplistic exaggeration. It’s unclear whether Trump himself understood that. Probably but I struggle to see what it gains him if he does understand. Why not just say, “we’re going to be focused on ending the war without delay” or some such thing. Of course, that’s what normal pols say and Trump is far from normal. Saying you’ll end it in a day just gives critics a free shot at you, even though everyone knows it’s impossible.

Perhaps he says things like that as a bluff. Maybe he hopes Ukraine and Russia will be frightened of him and figure out a deal but Trump blusters much more than he does. I suspect most foreign leaders have figured that out by now.

FourArmsFiveLegs on January 22nd, 2025 at 20:07 UTC »

Setup for failure

nshire on January 22nd, 2025 at 19:42 UTC »

Reminder that that is about 100 times longer than he promised.