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Trump to appoint Ukrainian peace envoy 'soon' to lead talks on ending war with Russia, Fox News reports

by Kateryna Hodunova and The Kyiv Independent news desk November 13, 2024 6:35 PM 2 min read

Donald Trump arrives to speak during an election night event at the Palm Beach Convention Center on November 06, 2024 in West Palm Beach, Florida (Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images)

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President-elect Donald Trump may "soon" appoint a Ukrainian peace envoy to lead negotiations on ending Russia's war, Fox News reported on Nov. 13, citing its multiple undisclosed sources.

"You're going to see a very senior special envoy, someone with a lot of credibility, who will be given a task to find a resolution, to get to a peace settlement," one of the sources said, adding that the appointment will happen "in short order."

Kurt Volker held a similar position and served as the U.S. Special Representative for Ukraine on a volunteer basis from 2017 to 2019. The post of Ukrainian peace envoy is also expected to be unpaid.

Over the past few days, Trump has announced new members of his future administration. Meanwhile, some of Trump's picks have made controversial statements about the war in Ukraine and opposed further provision of military aid for Kyiv.

U.S. President-elect Donald Trump on Nov. 12 selected Elon Musk and Vivek Ramaswamy to lead the "Department of Government Efficiency," a new body designed to "drive large-scale structural reform."

Ramaswamy, a wealthy entrepreneur, and Musk, one of the world's richest people and owner of SpaceX, Tesla, and X (formerly known as Twitter), have no background in politics apart from Ramaswamy’s brief running for the Republican presidential nomination.

While Musk has repeatedly echoed pro-Russian talking points on Ukraine, including proposals to cede territory to Moscow, Ramaswamy was among the most vocal opponents of military aid for Kyiv.

Trump also named South Dakota Governor Kristi Noem as the leader of Homeland Security, who earlier called Russia's invasion of Ukraine "Europe's fight, not ours."

Earlier, Trump named Michael Waltz his national security advisor. Waltz's views on Ukraine evolved from an ardent supporter of U.S. military aid to questioning it and advocating for relocating these resources against China.

Trump's defense secretary is confirmed to be Pete Hegseth, an army veteran and current Fox News host. His secretary of state, overseeing U.S. diplomacy, is reported to be Marco Rubio.

Authors: Kateryna Hodunova, The Kyiv Independent news desk

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