President Volodymyr Zelensky of Ukraine was set to meet with President Trump’s special envoy to Ukraine and Russia in Kyiv on Thursday — a day after a public feud between the Ukrainian and American leaders threatened to derail diplomatic efforts toward peace talks.
The meeting with the envoy, Keith Kellogg, a retired U.S. general and longtime adviser to Mr. Trump on security matters, was to discuss paths to ending the war that would safeguard Ukraine’s interests. But whether Mr. Kellogg can persuade Mr. Trump to renew ties with the Ukrainian leader is unclear.
On Wednesday, Mr. Trump labeled Mr. Zelensky a “dictator,” and the Ukrainian president accused him of echoing Russian propaganda. And there are concerns in Kyiv that Mr. Kellogg has been sidelined from the Trump administration’s negotiating team, since he was not part of the U.S. delegation that met with Russian officials this week to initiate peace talks.
Ukraine is wary of straining ties with Washington, its biggest ally, however, and Kyiv has suggested that the meeting will aim to stop the feud from escalating into an out-of-control dispute. “It is crucial for us that the meeting and our overall cooperation with America be constructive,” Mr. Zelensky said in his nightly address on Wednesday.
Mr. Kellogg has said that the United States is conducting separate discussions on a potential peace deal with Russia and with Ukraine and that he is leading the U.S.-Ukraine track and Steve Witkoff, Mr. Trump’s Middle East envoy, is in charge of the U.S.-Russia track. The two envoys will then return to Washington to compare notes and determine the next steps, Mr. Kellogg added.
Mr. Kellogg arrived in Kyiv on Wednesday morning for a three-day visit. Speaking from the city’s railway station upon arrival, he said that his mission would be to “sit and listen” to Ukraine’s concerns, and he added that he understood Ukraine’s “need for security guarantees” in any postwar settlement.
