US Special Representative for Ukraine Kurt Volker will visit Ukraine this week before having a meeting with Russian presidential aide Vladislav Surkov, Ukraine's representative at the political subgroup of the trilateral contact group on a Donbas settlement, Olha Ayvazovska, said on the air of the 5 Kanal news TV channel.
"Mr Volker will be in Ukraine at the end of the week, on 25-26 [January], if I'm not mistaken. He is sure to visit Ukraine before meeting Mr Surkov, every time," she said.
Ayvazovska suggested that Volker and Surkov would discuss a UN peacekeeping mission in Donbas.
Ukrainian Foreign Minister Pavlo Klimkin at a news conference on 22 January also mentioned an upcoming meeting between the US and Russian envoys.
The Russian daily Kommersant earlier quoted an unnamed Washington-based diplomat as saying that the meeting may take place on 26 January. Before this, Volker is to visit Ukraine, in particular to travel to the line of contact in Donbas.
UPDATE: Volker told Voice of America that he would visit Donbas on 24 January, meet the Ukrainian leadership in Kyiv the next day and hold negotiations with Surkov in Dubai on 26 January.
In late November, Volker said in an interview with LB.ua that the US goal is to make sure that Ukraine restores its sovereignty and territorial integrity in full.