Today at 14:18
Western media report that U.S. President Donald Trump has sent a high-level Pentagon delegation to Kyiv for talks on Wednesday as part of his administration’s attempt to revive negotiations on ending Russia’s war in Ukraine.
The Wall Street Journal and Politico report this.
According to WSJ, two officials said that U.S. Army Secretary Dan Driscoll, together with two U.S. Army generals, is to hold talks with President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelenskyy and other Ukrainian officials, as well as senior representatives of the military and industrial sectors. In addition, Driscoll later plans to meet with Russian officials.
Politico notes that the visit of the U.S. delegation comes at a time when Russia has intensified its deadly missile and drone attacks on civilian targets in Ukraine, and Western allies are trying to find new ways to continue supplying weapons to a country at war.
Verbatim from WSJ: “The White House’s decision to turn to Driscoll and senior military officers is partly driven by the belief that Moscow may be more open to talks mediated by the military, as well as by frustration that numerous previous efforts have produced no results.”
“…Driscoll is heading to Ukraine to get a better sense of the situation on the ground. He will take part in meetings in Ukraine and report his findings to the White House,” a senior administration official said. “The President (U.S. President Donald Trump – ed.) has made it clear that it is time to stop the killing and strike a deal to end the war,” the publication states.
According to another administration official, Driscoll’s mission is to revive peace talks on Trump’s behalf.
WSJ adds that Driscoll’s boss, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, has not visited Kyiv since taking office in January. The decision to send the civilian head of the Army, whose work is focused mainly on training and equipping soldiers, is an unusual one. But Trump often relies on such envoys, among them former special envoy Steve Witkoff.
It is unclear whether Driscoll shared with Zelenskyy a new proposal for negotiations from the White House, which previously called for freezing military operations by both sides along the current front lines in eastern Ukraine in order to accelerate talks on a settlement.
According to one of the officials, WSJ writes, the idea to send Driscoll — a Yale Law School classmate of Vice President J.D. Vance — to Ukraine and then to Russia arose during a conversation between Trump and Vance.
Verbatim from Politico: “The main purpose of the visit will be to draw Ukraine’s leadership into a protracted peace process with Russia, despite the fact that Moscow has rejected all previous attempts by the U.S. and Ukraine to halt the fighting.”
Earlier, media reported that the administration of U.S. President Donald Trump has been secretly working with Russia on a new plan to end the war in Ukraine.
