Donald Trump sends top Pentagon officials to Kyiv hoping to revive talks with Russia
Donald Trump, President of the US (photo: Getty Images)
US President Donald Trump has sent a senior delegation from the Department of War to Kyiv. The goal is to resume negotiations with Russia to end the war, according to The Wall Street Journal.
WSJ, citing senior US officials, writes that this move represents the Trump administration’s latest attempt to restart talks on ending the war in Ukraine.
Who is going to Kyiv?
WSJ notes that US Army Secretary Daniel Driscoll, along with two four-star generals, was set to hold talks with President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and other Ukrainian officials, as well as senior industry representatives.
It is also known that Driscoll plans to meet with Russian officials, but at a later time.
WSJ reported that the White House’s decision to turn to Driscoll and other senior officials was partly driven by the belief that Moscow might be more open to negotiations under military mediation, as well as frustration that numerous previous attempts had yielded little.
A senior Trump administration official said that Secretary Driscoll is going to Ukraine to assess the situation on the ground. He is expected to participate in meetings and report his findings back to the White House.
An unnamed US official added that the President had made it clear that it was time to stop the killings and reach an agreement to end the war.
Another official said that Driscoll’s mission is to restart peace negotiations on behalf of Trump.
War negotiations
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs reported that peace negotiations with Russia have been suspended, at least until the end of this year, due to a lack of progress.
The US and former President Donald Trump have acted as mediators in peace talks between Ukraine and Russia. However, the American leader, who has previously mediated multiple global conflicts, acknowledged that ending the war with Russia is more difficult than he had anticipated.
Trump’s latest attempt involved a planned meeting with Russian leader Vladimir Putin, which was supposed to take place in Budapest. However, the talks were rejected because Moscow saw no point in them.
Trump and Putin last met in person on August 15 in Alaska. Afterwards, following numerous Russian attacks on Ukraine, officials in Moscow stated that the positive momentum from the leaders’ negotiations had been exhausted.
Axios reported on a US-Russia peace plan that the two sides are allegedly discussing to end the war in Ukraine.
According to the information, the plan to end the war will consist of 28 points. More details are available in the article by RBC-Ukraine.
