President-elect Donald Trump on Wednesday announced he was nominating Gen. Keith Kellogg as special envoy to Ukraine and Russia.
Kellogg, a retired Army lieutenant general who has long been a key adviser to Trump, was Vice President Mike Pence’s national security adviser during the previous administration.
Trump announced the latest appointment to his incoming administration on his Truth Social platform.
‘He was with me right from the beginning!’ he wrote, using his unique brand of capitalization to make the point.
‘Together, we will secure PEACE THROUGH STRENGTH, and Make America, and the World, SAFE AGAIN!’
Kellogg will take up his role as the Russian war in Ukraine marks its third anniversary next year.
He has been an outspoken critic of the billions of dollars in arms and ammunition sent by the Biden administration to Ukraine.
And last week he warned that the conflict could spiral out of control after President Joe Biden’s decision to allow Ukraine to fire long-range missiles into Russian territory.
‘I don’t think World War III has begun, but we’re right on the precipice,’ he told Fox News.
President-elect Donald Trump on Wednesday announced he was nominating Gen. 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 servicemen of the 43 Artillery Brigade are seen here firing a 2S7 Pion self-propelled cannon towards Russian positions at a front line in the Donetsk region on September 27, 2024
‘What I mean by that is, when you look at what’s happening … with an alliance that President Trump kept apart. You know, he had North Korea over here, he had China over here, he had Iran here and Russia over here.
‘What you’ve seen now is they’ve all joined. You’ve got an axis together, and they’re feeding off one another.’
The president elect has repeatedly claimed to be able to end the war in 24 hours, triggering speculation that he is planning to press Ukraine to negotiate with Russia, giving up land that Moscow now occupies.
Kellogg developed a plan along similar lines for the America First Policy Institute, a group that formulated a policy blueprint and staffing lists for a new Trump administration.
It would involve telling Kyiv it would no longer receive U.S. weapons unless it entered talks. At the same time, Moscow would be told to expect increased support to Kyiv it failed to go along with negotiations.
Trump has moved quickly to round out Cabinet appointments and other senior posts since winning the election.
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