President-elect Donald Trump Wednesday nominated Keith Kellogg, a retired Army lieutenant general, to serve as special envoy for Ukraine and Russia. “He was with me right from the beginning! Together, we will secure PEACE THROUGH STRENGTH, and Make America, and the World, SAFE AGAIN!” Donald Trump wrote on Truth Social.
Kellogg, who will also be an assistant to Trump during his second term, has long been a top adviser for the president-elect on defense issues.
“Keith has led a distinguished Military and Business career, including serving in highly sensitive National Security roles in my first Administration,” Trump mentioned on Wednesday. Keith was also the national security advice to Mike Pence who was the vice president in Trump’s first term.
Kellogg has previously argued that Washington should arm Ukraine on the condition that Kyiv enter peace talks with Russia. Writing in a policy paper alongside another former Trump official, Fred Fleitz, they argued that the US should put Ukrainian NATO membership on hold indefinitely in exchange for a “comprehensive and verifiable deal with security guarantees.”
The appointment was a much-awaited one as Trump claimed had he been the president, the Russia-Ukraine war would not have taken place. Trump has criticized the billions of dollars that the Biden administration has poured into Ukraine. Washington has recently stepped up weapons shipments and has forgiven billions in loans provided to Kyiv. The incoming Republican president has said he could end the war in 24 hours, comments that appear to suggest he would press Ukraine to surrender territory that Russia now occupies.
Kellogg’s plan to end the war, which began when Russia invaded the sovereign territory of Ukraine in February 2022, involves freezing the battle lines at their current locations and forcing Kiev and Moscow to sit down at the negotiating table, according to Reuters.
80-year-old Keith Kellogg is married to Paige Kellogg and has three children. Paige was also in the Army and served during the 1983 US invasions of Grenada. During the 9/11 attack, Kellogg was in the Pentagon.
