Duda to meet US president's envoy to Ukraine

Polish President Andrzej Duda is scheduled to meet this week with Keith Kellogg, the US special envoy of to Ukraine and Russia, the head of Duda's international policy bureau has announced.

President of Poland Andrzej Duda. Photo PAP/Radek Pietruszka
President of Poland Andrzej Duda. Photo PAP/Radek Pietruszka

Wojciech Kolarski told the private radio broadcaster RMF FM on Monday that the meeting had been initiated by the US administration. "I can even tell you that there were some scheduling issues, but the Americans insisted and tomorrow afternoon the meeting will take place," he said.

Kolarski also mentioned that apart from Duda, Kellogg had not planned to meet any other head of state during his visit to Europe. In his opinion, it signified the high regard the US administration had for Duda. According to Kolarski, Duda's long-term policy of building transatlantic relations and his very good relationship with US President Donald Trump resulted in Kellogg's wish to learn about the Polish president's position on the war in Ukraine before negotiating the conditions for peace in the conflict.

"The president is going to say what he has been consistently telling the international audience from the very beginning, which is that Russia must not win this war," Kolarski said.

"After the peace treaty is signed, Russians must not come out convinced that it was worth to launch an unprovoked attack without a reason, and begin brutal aggression against an independent state," he added. 

During Trump's first term, Kellogg, a retired three-star US Army general, served as the national security advisor to Vice President Mike Pence and as the executive secretary of the United States National Security Council.

In November last year, Trump appointed Kellogg to serve as his special envoy for Russia and Ukraine, tasked with a mission to end the war in Ukraine quickly, as was Trump's promise in his presidential campaign.(PAP)
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