WASHINGTON: US envoy for Ukraine Keith Kellogg will take part in talks in London among Kyiv's allies Wednesday, the State Department announced, as President Donald Trump presses for a ceasefire in the war.
State Department spokeswoman Tammy Bruce said in a Fox News interview Tuesday that Secretary of State Marco Rubio was planning travel to London, but she told a briefing later in the day that Kellogg was in London for the talks.
“Secretary Rubio is a busy man,“ she told reporters.
His non-attendance “is not a statement regarding the meetings. It’s a statement about logistical issues in his schedule.”
The talks come before the funeral of Pope Francis on Saturday. Trump has said he plans to attend, although Rubio's participation is not confirmed.
Kellogg, a retired general, was initially named Trump's special envoy for Ukraine and Russia but his job was limited last month to Ukraine only, with Moscow snubbing him as too pro-Kyiv.
Dealing with Russia instead has been Steve Witkoff, a business friend of Trump initially in charge of the Middle East but now his roving envoy who also handles Iran.
A Kremlin aide said Tuesday that Witkoff would return to Russia this week. The State Department declined to confirm his travel plans.
Trump took office vowing a quick end to the Ukraine war. But Rubio, after talks in Paris last week with French, Ukrainian and other European officials, voiced growing pessimism about the prospects and said the United States may move on.
Russia has rebuffed a Ukrainian-backed US proposal for a full temporary ceasefire.
Bruce said that Trump still “wants this to be solved diplomatically” and that “we will know soon” what is possible.
“We look to Russia based on their actions, not their words,“ she said.
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