Keith Kellogg. Photo: Getty Images

Keith Kellogg, US President’s special envoy for Ukraine, who is involved in peace negotiations, has said that the plan is to halt hostilities along the line of contact and “try to bring the Russians back into what I would call the League of Nations”.

Source: Kellogg during a speech at the German Marshall Fund forum in Brussels, as reported by Radio Liberty

Details: Kellogg stated that after reviewing the positions of both Ukraine and Russia, the US understands what a full ceasefire “could and should” look like.

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Quote: “A ceasefire in place means – the ground you are physically on… Then we want to get to the return of children, the prisoners that are around there, that made a sustainable ceasefire long-term, sustainable not only for Ukrainians but for Europe as well. And then try to get the Russians back into what I would call the League of Proper Nations. So everybody is kind of working together… Meaning,  you can all live with the results of this for the long term.”

Background:


Ukraine insists on an unconditional ceasefire – a position also supported by the United States, which is initiating the peace talks. Moscow, however, refuses to comply.
On the evening of 2 June, Russian state news agencies published a document containing Moscow’s terms for a ceasefire. These include holding elections in Ukraine, followed by the signing of a peace agreement. Russia also demands that Ukrainian forces withdraw from Zaporizhzhia, Donetsk, Luhansk and Kherson oblasts and that Ukraine recognise these four regions – along with Crimea, annexed in 2014 – as Russian territory.
The so-called Russian memorandum also stipulates that Ukraine adopt neutral status, reject membership in military alliances and ban the presence of foreign military forces on its territory. Moscow insists that the Russian language be granted official status in Ukraine.
US President Donald Trump stated on 28 May that he would have “an answer within two weeks” as to whether Russian leader Vladimir Putin truly wants to end the war in Ukraine.
Meanwhile, Russian Security Council Deputy Chair Dmitry Medvedev said on 3 June that the aim of Russia’s participation in talks with Ukrainian representatives in Istanbul is to secure Russia’s victory, not to achieve peace.

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