Report: Trump Envoy Readying Options for Russia-Ukraine War End

President Donald Trump's special envoy for the Russia-Ukraine war reportedly is preparing options for a peace deal.

Retired Army Lt. Gen. Keith Kellogg told allies in recent meetings that he's preparing options for ending the war to present to Trump, Semafor reported Monday based on three Western officials familiar with the discussions.

Kellogg denied reports he would present the options at this week's Munich Security Conference, the outlet reported.

One Western official said Kellogg indicated he was aiming to meet and coordinate with officials from every NATO country.

Trump told the New York Post on Friday that he has spoken to Russian President Vladimir Putin by phone about ending the war. It's the first known direct conversation between Putin and a U.S president since early 2022.

Speaking Sunday to reporters aboard Air Force One, Trump again indicated he and Putin have been in contact.

Asked whether he had his conversation with Putin before or after he took office on Jan. 20, Trump said: "I've had it. Let's just say I've had it. ... And I expect to have many more conversations. We have to get that war ended."

"If we are talking, I don't want to tell you about the conversations," Trump added. "I do believe we're making progress. We want to stop the Ukraine-Russia war."

Trump said the U.S. also had been in touch with Ukraine. "We're talking to both sides," he said.

Russia's point man for relations with the U.S. said Monday that all of Putin's conditions must be met in full before the war in Ukraine can end, suggesting Moscow is playing hardball.

The Kremlin refused to confirm or deny the contact between the two leaders.

The "political solution as we envisage it cannot be achieved otherwise than through the full implementation of what was pronounced by President Putin when he spoke to the Russian Foreign Ministry in June," Deputy Foreign Minister Sergey Ryabkov told a Moscow news briefing in English. "This is where we are, and the sooner U.S., Britain and others understand it, the better it would be and the closer this desired political solution will be for everyone."

In Putin's June 14 speech to the Foreign Ministry, he set out his terms: Ukraine must drop its NATO ambitions and withdraw its troops from the entirety of the territory of four Ukrainian regions claimed and mostly controlled by Russia.

Kyiv, which wants to join NATO and wrest back control of lost territory, said at the time that said such conditions would be tantamount to surrender.

Reuters contributed to this story.