KYIV (Reuters) – Keith Kellogg, U.S. President Donald Trump’s Ukraine envoy, arrived in Kyiv on Wednesday to meet with President Volodymyr Zelenskiy and “listen,” as the war against Russia approaches its three-year mark.
Kellogg’s visit comes a day after the United States and Russia met in Riyadh for talks on ending the war, without Ukraine.
“It will give us a chance to have good substantial talks,” Kellogg said, adding that the talks will build on weekend conversations at the Munich Security Conference.
“We understand the need for security guarantees,” Kellogg told journalists, saying that part of his mission would be “to sit and listen”.
Ukraine has repeatedly stressed the need for security guarantees from the U.S. that would deter Russia from launching a new invasion once a peace deal is reached.
Kellogg said he would share the findings with Trump and the rest of the team to “ensure that we get this one right.”
Zelenskiy postponed a visit to Saudi Arabia planned for Wednesday in order not to give “legitimacy” to Tuesday’s meeting between U.S. and Russian officials in Riyadh, two sources told Reuters earlier.
Trump dismissed Ukraine’s concerns about being left out of U.S.-Russian talks on ending the Ukraine war, saying Kyiv could have made a deal with Russia earlier.
(Reporting by Anastasiia Malenko and Yurii Kovalenko; Editing by Bernadette Baum)
