WASHINGTON, February 7. /TASS/. Various agencies of the Washington administration share the view that the settlement of the Ukrainian crisis is the top priority of US President Donald Trump's foreign policy, Ludovic Hood, chief of staff and counselor to Trump's special envoy for Ukraine and Russia Keith Kellogg, said.
He was asked to comment on the bureaucratic component of coordinating the positions of the State Department, the Pentagon, the intelligence community and other agencies during the development of the US position on the Ukrainian conflict. "Surprisingly, that's been the easiest piece. I mean the ongoing the ongoing meetings, consultations, group meetings," the diplomat said.
"Everyone recognizes this is the president's number one foreign policy priority in terms of crises to be addressed. And there have been meetings with the above. I've been in a couple myself, and that is going well under the president's leadership," Hood explained.
Kellogg earlier said in an interview with the Newsmax TV channel that he would not present a peace plan to resolve the Ukrainian conflict next week because it is the prerogative of the US president.
Russian President Vladimir Putin has previously listed the conditions for resolving the conflict, including the withdrawal of Ukrainian forces from Donbass and Novorossiya, Kiev's refusal to join NATO, the lifting of all Western sanctions against Moscow, and the establishment of Ukraine's non-aligned and nuclear-free status. The Western media are increasingly suggesting that a Ukrainian settlement will be discussed bilaterally between the leaders of Russia and the United States, excluding Europe and formally involving Kiev.