Translated with AI
The US special representative added that Trump is ready to promise Putin not to take Ukraine into NATO if this is a key requirement for ending the war.
The United States understands the validity of the Kremlin's demands regarding non-expansion of NATO and is ready to discuss this issue within the framework of peace negotiations on Ukraine.
This was stated by US President Donald Trump's special representative Keith Kellogg in an interview with ABC News. He confirmed that the head of the White House is ready to promise Russian dictator Vladimir Putin not to expand NATO if this is the key requirement for ending the war.
"That's a legitimate concern. That's something Russia will always raise. They're talking about not just Ukraine, but Moldova and Georgia. And we say, OK, we can talk about stopping NATO expansion to your border. That's their security interest," Kellogg said.
Kellogg added that Ukraine's accession to NATO is not on the agenda. And in general, according to him, four countries are against Ukraine's accession.
"The US said that Ukraine's accession to NATO is not on our agenda, and we are not the only country that says so. I can name four more NATO countries that are also against it," the special representative said.
In addition, Kellogg reported that at the talks in Istanbul, scheduled for June 2, in addition to the Ukrainian and Russian delegations, there will also be security advisers from the United States, France, Germany and Great Britain. The special representative specified that these countries participated in the formation of the Ukrainian version of the 22-point "memorandum" during meetings in London and Paris.
At the same time, Kellogg called the absence of a Russian version of the so-called “memorandum” an obstacle to negotiations:
When Trump spoke to Putin, he said he would hand over his memorandum within a week, but neither we nor the Ukrainians have seen it yet."
Kellogg also named the goal of the new round of talks in Istanbul. According to him, the primary goal of the talks is to achieve a comprehensive ceasefire in the air, on land, at sea and on strikes against civilian infrastructure.
Negotiations in Istanbul
On May 29, Putin's press secretary Dmitry Peskov said that Russia was proposing to hold a new round of talks in Istanbul on June 2. At the same time, Ukraine, according to him, has not yet responded to this proposal.
Meanwhile, last night the White House said it hoped that Ukraine and Russia would hold a new round of direct negotiations next week.
