Trump selects longtime adviser Keith Kellogg as special envoy for Ukraine and Russia
WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. — president-elect Donald Trump said Wednesday that he has selected Keith Kellogg, a highly decorated retired three-star general, as his special envoy to Ukraine and Russia.
Kellogg, one of the architects of a staunchly conservative policy book in which a The ‘America First’ National Security Agenda for the new administration, will step into this role as Russia’s invasion of Ukraine enters its third year in February.
Trump made the announcement on his Truth Social account, saying: “He was with me from the beginning! Together we will secure peace through strength, and make America and the world safe again!”
Kellogg, an 80-year-old retired Army lieutenant general who was Trump’s longtime top defense adviser, served as national security adviser to the vice president Mike Pencewas chief of staff of the National Security Council and then served as acting national security adviser to Trump Michael Flynn resigned.
As special envoy to Ukraine and Russia, Kellogg will have to navigate an increasingly untenable war between the two nations.
The Biden The government has begun to urge Ukraine to do so quickly increasing the size of his army by fielding more troops and renewing mobilization laws to allow conscription of people aged 18 and over.
The White House has sent more than $56 billion in security assistance to Ukraine since the Russian invasion began in February 2022 and expects to send billions more before Biden leaves office in less than two months. The US recently increased arms supplies and forgave billions in loans to Kiev.
Trump has criticized the billions the Biden administration has spent to support Ukraine and has said he could end the war within 24 hours.
As co-chair of the American First Policy Institute’s Center for American Security, Kellogg wrote several chapters in the group’s policy book. The book, like the Heritage Foundation’s “Project 2025,” aims to lay out a Trump national security agenda and avoid the mistakes of 2016, when he entered the White House largely unprepared.
Kellogg wrote in April that “ending the war between Russia and Ukraine will require strong, America First leadership to reach a peace deal and immediately end hostilities between the two warring sides.”
Trump’s proposed national security advisorU.S. Rep. Michael Waltz of Florida tweeted Wednesday that “Keith has dedicated his life to defending our great country and is committed to bringing the war in Ukraine to a peaceful resolution.”
Kellogg was involved in multiple Trump investigations dating back to his first term. He was among the administration officials who listened in on the July 2019 phone call between Trump and Trump Volodymyr Zelensky in which Trump urged his Ukrainian counterpart to continue investigating the Bidens.
The call, which Kellogg would later say did not raise any concerns on his part, was at the center of the first of two impeachment trials in the House of Representatives against Trump, who was acquitted by the Senate both times.
On January 6, 2021, hours before pro-Trump rioters stormed the US Capitol, Kellogg, then Pence’s national security adviser, listened to a heated call in which Trump told his vice president to object or delay the certification in Congress . President Joe Biden ‘s victory.
He later told House investigators that he remembered Trump saying to Pence words to the effect: “You are not strong enough to make the decision.”
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Baldor reported from Washington. AP writer Eric Tucker in Washington contributed to this report.