Ukraine may be divided into zones of control as part of a peace settlement, like Berlin after the Second World War, President Trump’s special envoy to Ukraine and Russia has suggested.
Gen. Keith Kellogg told UK’s The Times newspaper that British and French troops could take control of the west of the country with Russian troops in the occupied eastern territories separated by a third demilitarized zone under Ukrainian control.
He said an Anglo-French “reassurance force” west of the Dnipro River, which bisects the country from north to south through the capital Kyiv, would “not be provocative at all” to Moscow as Ukraine is large enough to accommodate several armies, The Times reported.
“You could almost make it look like what happened with Berlin after World War Two, when you had a Russian zone, a French zone, and a British zone, a U.S. zone,” Kellogg said.
But he added that the U.S. would not provide any ground forces under such a scenario.
Kellogg said the demilitarized zone would be approximately 18 kilometers wide and based on the existing lines of control in the eastern Donbas region.
Kellogg’s comments imply U.S. acceptance of Russia’s de facto control of territories its forces currently occupy, The Times wrote.
In March, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov reiterated the Kremlin’s position that Moscow would not accept any military presence of NATO countries in Ukraine as part of a peace agreement.
Kellogg’s statements followed a meeting in St Petersburg on Friday between another U.S. envoy, Steve Witkoff, and Russia’s president, Vladimir Putin.
Russian news agencies said the talks lasted more than four hours and were “productive.”
Prior to Friday’s meeting, Donald Trump issued a rare warning to his Russian counterpart:
"Russia has to get moving,” he posted on his Truth Social platform. “Too many people [are] DYING, thousands a week, in a terrible and senseless war—A war that should have never happened, and wouldn't have happened, if I were President!!!"
