Recent developments regarding the visits of Vitkoff and Kellogg to Ukraine and Russia indicate coordinated actions on the part of the United States. Kellogg’s arrival in Kyiv, following the rescheduling of Vitkoff’s visit to Moscow, appears to be part of broader diplomatic maneuvers by Donald Trump to search for room for negotiation and avoid fulfilling firm commitments to European partners.
At the same time, there are no notable breakthroughs or shifts in approaches: both sanction policy towards Russia and negotiations on conflict resolution remain at the level of general statements. Trump’s position demonstrates a desire to show pressure on Russia, while actions often amount to finding excuses to stall.
Despite questions about the contents of Kellogg’s proposals to Ukraine, no official details of a peace plan have been disclosed. The proposals seemingly revolve around Ukraine’s silent renunciation of certain territories and abandoning the NATO course, which is unacceptable for the government in Kyiv. Meanwhile, US diplomatic activity is seen as an attempt to shift responsibility for stalled talks to other parties.
Observers note that despite active diplomacy, there are no effective peace initiatives being proposed, causing skepticism about the real goals of these Western diplomatic missions at this stage of the war.
