The administration of US President Donald Trump is reportedly pushing for a ceasefire in Ukraine by April 20, with negotiations gaining momentum. According to Bloomberg, Trump’s special envoy on Russia and Ukraine, Keith Kellogg, has indicated that a US-led peace plan could be presented within weeks or even days. The move signals a dramatic shift in Washington’s approach to the ongoing conflict, potentially sidelining European involvement in future peace efforts.

The urgency of the Trump administration’s push for a ceasefire was disclosed at the Munich Security Conference on February 15. Citing sources briefed on the matter, Bloomberg reported that Trump has instructed US negotiators to reach a deal by Easter, an ambitious deadline that has left European officials skeptical about its feasibility.

Talks are expected to commence in Saudi Arabia, with Russian and US representatives meeting to lay the groundwork for a potential agreement. However, European powers have been excluded from the discussions, a decision justified by Kellogg’s criticism of their past involvement in failed diplomatic efforts.

“When you looked at Minsk-2, there was a lot of people at the table that really had no ability to execute some type of peace process, and it failed miserably. So we are not gonna go down that path,” Kellogg reportedly told top European diplomats. This statement was a direct reference to the 2015 Minsk agreements, which Germany and France helped broker between Ukraine and the now Russian-controlled Donetsk and Lugansk regions. Those accords ultimately failed, as later admitted by former German Chancellor........

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