President Donald Trump has appointed Keith Kellogg as special envoy for Ukraine and Russia. This role was newly conceived in light of the ongoing war between the two countries.
Kellogg, an 80-year-old retired U.S. Army lieutenant general, will begin his role as Russia’s invasion of Ukraine enters its third year.
“Keith has had a distinguished career in the military and business, including serving in highly sensitive national security roles in my first administration. He has been with me from the beginning! Together, we will ensure peace and make America and the world safe again,” President Trump said in a post on Truth Social.
Kellogg previously served as national security adviser to former Vice President Mike Pence during the Trump administration. Kellogg became Trump’s acting national security adviser after Michael Flynn resigned in 2017.
Kellogg previously told Reuters that he would focus on bringing the two countries to the negotiating table in line with Russia’s plan to end the war in Ukraine.
“We’re telling the Ukrainians, ‘You have to come to the table. If you don’t come to the table, the support from the United States will dry up,'” Kellogg said in a June interview. ” he said. “And you told President (Vladimir) Putin that you have to come to the table. If you don’t come to the table, we will give the Ukrainians everything they need to kill you on the spot. .”
Early reaction to Kellogg’s possible confirmation was muted, The Hill reported.
“It was a binge,” said a Washington, D.C.-based security analyst who spoke to Barron’s anonymously. “It’s not terrible, it’s not surprising.”
Ole Shamshur, a former Ukrainian ambassador to the United States, told The Hill he was pessimistic about Kellogg’s potential appointment.
“As I understand it, he is (Vice President-elect) JD) I fully accept the logic of Mr. Trump’s ‘peace plan’ that Mr. Vance referred to.” Nat.
Luke Coffey, a senior fellow at the conservative Hudson Institute think tank, told the New York Times in September that Vance’s plan is not a “realistic proposal for peace.”
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“He proposed a plan for Russia’s victory,” Coffey told the Times.
Trump’s inauguration as president-elect has raised questions about the outcome of Russia’s war with Ukraine. One of his key campaign promises was to end the war quickly, but he did not elaborate on how.
Some supporters of Ukraine have expressed concern that President Trump’s steps to end the war could harm the country’s security or cede Ukrainian land to Russia. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy says he is confident that the war with Russia will “end sooner” than with Russia. If not, it will happen once President Trump takes office.
Zelensky reportedly had a “constructive exchange” with Trump in a conversation following Trump’s victory in the US presidential election.
