One of Donald Trump’s senior envoys for Ukraine has sparked alarm after making a series of blunders during crucial peace talks, according to a report.
The unnamed official is said to have made several comments that exposed a basic lack of knowledge about the war between Ukraine and Russia during trilateral peace talks in Abu Dhabi last week.
The talks, set to continue this weekend, are the first between the three countries since Russia’s full-scale invasion began in February 2022 – but the comments have led to fears that inexperience and misunderstanding by US officials could pose a risk to Kyiv.
Among the incorrect statements allegedly made during the meetings are errors about how long the war has been going on, when it started and whether or not the country has a vice-president.
“General [Kyrylo] Budanov is now their vice-president,” the official is reported to have said during a meeting with reporters, according to the Kyiv Independent. Ukraine does not have a vice-president, and Mr Budanov has recently been appointed as head of the president’s office.
Asked whether the envoys hoped to agree a peace deal before the four-year anniversary of the conflict, the top official reportedly answered: “I wasn’t aware of what that anniversary date was.” He added: “I don’t think we feel pressure to because we have a four-year anniversary.”
The discussions have so far been led by US special envoy Steve Witkoff, president Donald Trump’s son-in-law Jared Kushner, army secretary Dan Driscoll and other senior members of the administration.
Pictures from a meeting at the Kremlin with president Vladimir Putin also showed commissioner of the Federal Acquisition Service (FAS), Josh Gruenbaum, present during the talks.
“I think it’s the longest war now,” the US official is reported to have said erroneously during the meeting. “It was longer than World War II. At this point, it’s been going on.”
The Second World War lasted from 1939 to 1945. While Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine began in February 2022, its military actions and illegal annexation of Crimea began in 2014, with Russian-backed separatist troops fighting Ukrainian forces in the Donbas region.
It is not clear whether the official’s comments are referring to the beginning of Russia’s invasion in 2022 or the earlier Donbas conflict.
The Independent has approached the White House for comment.
Oleksandr Merezhko, head of Ukraine's parliament foreign affairs committee, told the publication that the alleged comments represented a “serious problem” and described the situation as troubling.
“(The envoy) has already made several big mistakes – both technical and, in essence, serious diplomatic ones.”
He added: “For example, (they) view territorial issues as real estate. That is completely wrong. They do not know the basics – the fundamentals of politics, history, international law.”
Meanwhile, Russia has continued to attack Ukraine in a series of strikes that president Volodymyr Zelensky has called acts of “terrorism”. Overnight, three people were killed in Odesa, just a day after five were killed in a drone strike on a passenger train.
The Ukrainian leader warned the escalations were a signal that Russia is preparing a “new massive strike” and said the onslaughts discredited peace talks.
“The Russians are preparing a new massive strike – our intelligence indicates this,” he said in a video to his social media account on Wednesday.
“The United States, Europe, and all our partners have to understand how this discredits diplomatic talks. Every single Russian strike does.”
