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WH Advisors to Meet With Zelenskyy 02/11 06:18
PARIS (AP) -- President Donald Trump' s senior advisers are expected to meet
with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy this week on the sidelines of the
Munich Security Conference to discuss the path toward ending Russia's nearly
three-year war in Ukraine.
Retired Lt. Gen. Keith Kellogg, Trump's special envoy to Ukraine and Russia,
told The Associated Press that the White House is ironing out details of the
highly anticipated talks during the annual summit for international security
discussions.
Vice President JD Vance, Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Kellogg are
among the Trump administration officials traveling to Germany for the summit,
and all could be involved in the critical talks with Zelenskyy and his team on
the sidelines of the event.
"Knowing how the process works, it would probably be better for Zelenskyy if
we all met together and talked through it as a group," Kellogg said in an
interview.
Trump on Monday said he'd "probably" speak with Zelenskyy this week.
The U.S. president said administration officials also would use the Munich
gathering to get a better gauge of the support that European nations are
willing to provide Kyiv as it tries to repel Russian President Vladimir Putin's
grinding invasion.
Kellogg and other administration officials have already been meeting with
European diplomats in Washington to discuss Ukraine.
But the talks in Munich give Trump's top aides their first major opportunity
to deliver a message about the new administration's foreign policy outlook and
its approach to a war that Trump has said is costing too much American taxpayer
money.
He complained anew about Europe not doing enough in its own backyard. Trump
argued that countries on the continent should repay the U.S. what Washington
has spent helping Kyiv.
"We will deliver our expectation to the allies," Kellogg said. "When we come
back from Munich -- we want to deliver to the president the options, so when he
does get (directly) involved in the peace process, he knows what it will look
like for him."
Trump, who had previously said he would bring about a rapid end to the war,
recently suggested that administration officials have already begun talks with
Russian officials. Trump has said his administration has been in contact with
Putin but he has declined to provide further detail about the purported talks.
Trump also has in recent days said he wants to reach an agreement with
Ukraine to gain access to the country's rare earth materials as a condition for
continuing U.S. support for Ukraine's defense against Russia. The president
told reporters Monday that his aides were working toward striking such a deal.
"We have people over there today who are making a deal that as we give
money, we get minerals and we get oil and we get all sorts of things," Trump
said. "Because why are we doing this?"
Kellogg said a rare earth deal could help ensure continued American economic
support for Ukraine.
"The answer to that is yes," Kellogg, said of the potential for such a deal
keeping U.S. support for Ukraine flowing. "The economics of that would allow
for further support to the Ukrainians."
Vance will lead the delegation to the security conference and is set to
arrive in Munich on Thursday as part of his first overseas trip since becoming
vice president.
He's now in Paris attending an artificial intelligence summit and is set to
meet Tuesday with French President Emmanuel Macron, Indian Prime Minister
Narendra Modi and European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen. The war
in Ukraine is expected to be on the agenda in all those meetings.
Like Trump, Vance has been an outspoken critic of U.S. sending billions in
military aid to Ukraine under former President Joe Biden.
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