The Kremlin did not want United States Special Envoy for Ukraine and Russia Keith Kellogg present at Ukraine peace talks, NBC News reported on Thursday, citing an American and a Russian official.

According to the Russian source, Moscow sees Kellogg as "too close to Ukraine" and believes he is "not our kind of person, not of the caliber we are looking for."

Kellogg was not present during US-Russia talks in Saudi Arabia in February and did not travel to Russia for ceasefire talks, with the White House sending its Special Envoy to the Middle East Steve Witkoff for talks with Russian President Vladimir Putin instead. Meanwhile, Kellogg has engaged in talks with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky.