Russian officials have communicated to their counterparts in the United States that they do not want Russia-Ukraine envoy Keith Kellogg involved in top-level discussions aimed at ending the Ukraine war,

President Donald Trump’s special envoy for Ukraine and Russia was excluded from high-level talks on ending the war after the Kremlin said it didn't want him there, a U.S. administration official and a Russian official tell NBC News.

Russia’s stalling contrasted with Trump’s rush for a valuable breakthrough as his trade policies set off stock market slumps and cast a cloud over the economy. “I think we’re going to be in very good shape to get it done. We want to get it over with,” Trump said at the Oval Office on Thursday, in an outburst of optimism that jarred with reality.

WASHINGTON—President Trump finds himself a “yes” away from brokering a cease-fire between Russia and Ukraine. But it is Russian President Vladimir Putin who has to say it, and he is leaning in the other direction.