The Kremlin has not been in contact with Trump's team on his special envoy Kellogg's travels

The Kremlin has not discussed with US President-elect Donald Trump the travels of his special envoy for Ukraine Keith Kellogg. This was stated by Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov on December 18.

"We have seen the relevant media report that such trips are planned. But there were no contacts with the Trump team on this matter," Peskov said.

Trump's special envoy for Ukraine has prepared his peace plan. Parsing

The day before, on December 17, Reuters reported that Kellogg will visit Kiev and several other European capitals in early January, but he has no plans to go to Moscow. The team of Trump's special envoy for Ukraine is working on organizing with the countries' leaders in the cities where Kellogg is going to visit. The agency noted that the timing of the European trip shows the urgency with which Trump treats the settlement in Ukraine.

On December 16, Trump indicated that he would be able to answer a question about Kiev's possible territorial concessions only after "the first meeting with the leaders of Russia and Ukraine." The president-elect then said that he was working hard on ending the conflict and had already made "a little progress."

Before that, on December 3, Kellogg's "Kellogg Plan" for resolving the Ukrainian crisis, written in April, was published. In it, Kellogg proposes to end the political isolation of the Russian Federation, put pressure on Moscow and Kiev, and intensify efforts to encourage a peaceful settlement. Trump's special envoy believes that the liberated territories should be retained by Russia, sanctions should be eased and relations between Moscow and Washington should be normalized.

The Foreign Intelligence Service (SVR) on November 29 indicated NATO's desire to freeze the conflict in order to rebuild the Ukrainian Armed Forces (UAF). Peskov on November 20 indicated that freezing the Ukrainian crisis is not suitable for Russia and reminded that Russian President Vladimir Putin is ready for negotiations.

The special operation to protect Donbass, the start of which Putin announced on February 24, 2022, is ongoing. The decision was taken against the background of the worsening situation in the region.