By John Irish, Gram Slattery and Max Hunder
(Reuters) – U.S. President-elect Donald Trump’s incoming Ukraine envoy has postponed a fact-finding trip to Kyiv and other European capitals until after Trump’s inauguration on Jan. 20, according to four sources with knowledge of the trip’s planning.
Retired Lieutenant-General Keith Kellogg, who is set to serve as Trump’s special envoy for Ukraine and Russia, had initially planned a mission to Kyiv to meet with Ukrainian leaders in early January, Reuters reported last month. His team was also setting up meetings with officials in other European capitals, including Rome and Paris.
But the trip, which would have marked the first time incoming Trump administration officials headed to Kyiv since the Nov. 5 election, has been pushed back, said the sources, who requested anonymity to discuss private matters.
Kellogg is now expected to travel to Ukraine after Trump takes office, though no date has been set, the sources said.
It was not immediately clear why Kellogg was delaying the trip.
Trump repeatedly said on the campaign trail that he could solve the war in Ukraine within 24 hours of taking office, but he has made little progress toward that end. Still, attempting to quickly wind down the conflict remains a key priority of his incoming administration.
Neither Kellogg nor a representative for the Ukrainian embassy in Washington immediately responded to requests for comment.
(Reporting by John Irish in Paris, Gram Slattery in Washington and Max Hunder in Kyiv; Writing by Gram Slattery, editing by Ross Colvin and Rod Nickel)
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