WASHINGTON: US President-elect Donald Trump on Wednesday named retired general Keith Kellogg as his Ukraine-Russia envoy, a newly role given the ongoing conflict between the two countries.
“I am very pleased to nominate General Keith Kellogg to serve as Assistant to the President and Special Envoy for Ukraine and Russia,” Donald Trump said in a statement on social media.
“Keith has led a distinguished Military and Business career, including serving in highly sensitive National Security roles in my first Administration,” Trump said.
Western media reported that Trump campaigned on a platform of ushering a swift end to the Ukraine conflict, boasting that he would rapidly mediate a ceasefire agreement between President Zelensky and Russian President Vladimir Putin.
He co-authored a paper earlier this year calling for the US to leverage military assistance as a means of pushing for peace talks.
Kyiv has received around $60 billion from the US for its armed forces since Russia launched a full-scale war in February 2022.
“The US would continue to arm Ukraine and strengthen its defenses to ensure Russia will make no further advances and will not attack again after a ceasefire or peace agreement,” Kellogg’s research paper for the Trumpist America First Policy Institute think tank said.
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“Future American military assistance, however, will need Ukraine to take part in peace talks with Moscow.”
Kellogg served in several roles during Trump’s first term, including as chief of staff on the White House national security council and national security advisor to then-vice president Mike Pence.
Kellogg told Voice of America (VOA) at the Republican convention in July that Kyiv’s options were “quite clear.”
Donald Trump’s announcement came as the outgoing administration of Biden was hosting a news conference to urge Ukraine to enlist more recruits by decreasing the minimum age of conscription to 18 — in line with the US benchmark, western media reported.
President Zelensky also signed a decree in April lowering the draft age from 27 to 25 but the move did not alleviate the continuing troop shortages, according to US officials.
