Trump names Gen Keith Kellogg as Ukraine and Russia envoy
President-elect Donald Trump nominated retired Lt. Gen Keith Kellogg to be his Special Envoy for Ukraine and Russia, a role aimed at finding a resolution to a war Russia started nearly three years and that Trump previously said he could end “in a day.”
Kellogg previously served as chief of staff for the White House National Security Council during Trump’s first term and as national security adviser to former Vice President Mike Pence.
“Keith has led a distinguished Military and Business career, including serving in highly sensitive National Security roles in my first administration,” Trump said in a statement Wednesday. “Together, we will secure PEACE THROUGH STRENGTH, and Make America, and the World, SAFE AGAIN!”
Trump over the last week has been announcing new members of his forthcoming administration. Some of those picks, like the incoming president himself, have expressed deep skepticism about sending Ukraine additional military aid.
One idea Kellogg has floated would require Ukraine to participate in peace talks with Russia to continue receiving aid. The plan was put forward by Kellogg and Fred Fleitz last spring. Fleitz was Kellogg’s successor as chief of staff at the National Security Council, where he also worked for Trump.
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NATO membership for Ukraine could also be on the table, Kellogg told USA TODAY in an interview over the summer.
He said the message to Russia should be, “If you sit down and talk we can stop the killing and discuss Ukraine’s near-term admission to NATO. If you do not start discussion, we will support Ukraine to a much greater level to support the destruction of the Russian army in Ukraine.”
Trump has not publicly specified what he would offer each side to bring the war to such a quick resolution.
“I will get it settled before I even become president. If I win, when I’m president-elect, and what I’ll do is I’ll speak to one, I’ll speak to the other, I’ll get them together,” Trump said in a September debate against Vice President Kamala Harris.
Vice President-elect JD Vance has argued that it is not in the United States’ interest to provide continued assistance to Ukraine at the current levels. South Dakota Gov. Kristi Noem, who Trump tapped to be the next U.S. homeland security, earlier this year called the war in Ukraine “Europe’s fight, not ours.”
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Trump’s incoming White House national security adviser, Florida Rep. Michael Waltz, has pushed for tougher enforcement of energy sanctions on Russia and “taking the handcuffs off of the long-range weapons” that the United States provides to Ukraine.
In a lengthy Oval Office meeting with Trump, outgoing President Joe Biden made the case to his successor that it is in the United States’ interest to stand by Ukraine in its fight against Russian aggression to prevent a wider war, current White House national security adviser Jake Sullivan said at a briefing afterward. That includes weapons and financial assistance.
Biden appointed Bridget Brink his ambassador to Ukraine in April 25, 2022. She remains in that role. Biden did not have a separate peace envoy for Ukraine, although he did make Penny Pritzker, a former U.S. Commerce secretary, his special representative for Ukraine’s economic recovery. She left that post in September at the end of a yearlong term.
Kurt Volker was the U.S. government’s last envoy devoted to ending Russia’s occupation of parts of Ukraine and bolstering U.S. and European support for Ukraine. He held the role from 2017-19.
Contributing: Riley Beggin, USA TODAY; Reuters
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