Washington’s Ukraine-Russia envoy Keith Kellogg said Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky was to blame for the heated meeting between him and US President Donald Trump on Feb. 28.
The infamous meeting saw Zelensky, Trump and Trump’s vice president, JD Vance, argue live on television, with the Ukrainian delegation being ordered to leave the White House.
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Kellogg, speaking at the Council on Foreign Relations event in Washington on Thursday, said Zelensky was “forewarned” of the proceedings, where he was supposed to sign the resources deal proposed by Trump without discussing the peace deal in public.
On Zelensky-Trump meeting
Kellogg claimed the Ukrainian delegation “brought it on themselves,” The Guardian reported.
“We talked with President Zelensky before that meeting, there were 13 US senators… we said, okay, this is like stage managing. This is what you want to say. It’s basically going to [go like that:] come in, we have a precious metals deal, you’re going to sign the deal, you’re going to have lunch, have a press conference, exit, stage right, and you’re good to go,” he said.
Kellogg also said the meeting erupted into a “combative conference” because Zelensky “[tried] to challenge the President of the United States in the Oval Office.”
“And I think what happened is they said – ‘Wait a second, this is not what we thought this was going to be. You don’t negotiate peace discussions in public. You don’t try to challenge the President of the United States in the Oval Office,’” Kellogg said.
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“And he was forewarned. It’s not like President Zelensky was not made aware that this is what we wanted out of the Ukrainians to basically go here, set the next stage. It opens up, it goes forward.”
On resources deal, security guarantees
Kellogg claimed that Zelensky “had an option” to sign the deal when Kellogg visited Ukraine on Feb. 20. Kellogg added that signing the deal is the only way to “move forward.”
“We tried to get across President Zelensky and his team: Look, when you get involved economically with somebody, I don’t care if it’s setting a McDonald’s hamburger franchises or the precious metals, you invest yourselves, diplomatically, militarily, economically in the future of this country,” Kellogg said.
“And that’s what we’re trying to get across,” he added.
Kellogg also argued that security guarantees go beyond military protection, where sanctions can also play a role.
“I think you have to look at it when you talk about security guarantees. It’s not only the kinetic piece, the military piece, which is clearly important, but it’s also the economic piece, the sanctions,” Kellogg said.
“What do you do with the frozen Russian assets? There’s $300 billion in Belgium right now. What are you going to use with them? Primarily, that’s oligarchs’ money,” he added.
On weapon, intelligence suspension
Kellogg also commented on the recent suspension of US military aid and intelligence sharing, saying he believed it was a move to pressure Kyiv into negotiating.
“I believe the push is to get them to engage in diplomatic activities… to get this to the table and say, this is an approach to going forward,” Kellogg said.
Kellogg said the suspension shows that Washington is “serious” about forcing a so-called peace deal.
“They have an ability with the assets they’ve got to continue to prosecute the fight, to do it, but… let’s be obviously, let’s be clear about it… If you take away support like that, of course, it’s important, we know that. But that’s one of the reasons why it was done,” he said.
To date, Kellogg has been the only senior US official from the Trump administration to have visited Ukraine after Trump’s return to office, where he met Zelensky and described him as an “embattled and courageous leader of a nation at war” following the meeting.
Kyiv Post also interviewed Kellogg’s daughter Meaghan Mobbs in Kyiv, where she divulged her volunteer work in Ukraine and her relationship with Kellogg.
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