President-elect Donald Trump announced Wednesday that he will nominate General Keith Kellogg as special envoy to Ukraine and Russia.
Kellogg, a retired Army lieutenant general who has long been a key adviser to Trump, served as Vice President Mike Pence’s national security adviser during the previous administration.
Trump announced the appointment on his Truth Social platform.
“He was with me from the beginning!” he wrote, using his unique capitalization to drive home the point.
“Together we will secure PEACE through strength, and make America and the world safe again!”
Kellogg will take on his role as Russia’s war in Ukraine marks its third anniversary next year.
He has been an outspoken critic of the billions of dollars in weapons and ammunition the Biden administration sent to Ukraine.
And last week he warned that the conflict could spiral out of control following President Joe Biden’s decision to allow Ukraine to fire long-range missiles into Russian territory.
“I don’t think World War III has started, but we are on the brink of the abyss,” he told Fox News.
President-elect Donald Trump announced Wednesday that he will nominate General Keith Kellogg as special envoy to Ukraine and Russia. They are seen here at Mar-a-Lago in 2017
The war in Ukraine will mark its third anniversary in February next year. Ukrainian soldiers from the 43rd Artillery Brigade are seen firing a 2S7 Pion self-propelled gun at Russian positions on a front line in the Donetsk region on September 27, 2024
“What I mean by that is, if you look at what’s happening … with an alliance that President Trump kept apart. You know, he had North Korea here, he had China here, he had Iran here and Russia here.
“What you’ve seen now is that they’ve all joined up. You have an axle together and they feed off each other.”
The newly elected president has repeatedly claimed he can end the war within 24 hours, raising speculation that he plans to pressure Ukraine to negotiate with Russia and give up land that Moscow now occupies.
Kellogg developed a similar plan for the America First Policy Institute, a group that created a policy blueprint and staff lists for a new Trump administration.
It would involve telling Kiev that it will no longer receive American weapons unless the country enters into talks. At the same time, Moscow would be told that it would expect more support for Kiev because the country did not agree to the negotiations.
Trump has moved quickly since winning the election to finalize Cabinet appointments and other top posts.