Trump Nominates Keith Kellogg as Special Envoy for Ukraine–Russia War

Keith Kellogg, national security adviser to U.S. Vice President Mike Pence, speaks during a press briefing in the Brady Briefing Room of the White House in Washington, on Sept. 22, 2020. Saul Loeb/AFP via Getty Images

President-elect Donald Trump nominated Keith Kellogg as his special envoy for the Ukraine–Russia conflict on Wednesday.

Kellogg served as chief of staff for the White House National Security Council during Trump’s first term and national security adviser to Vice President Mike Pence.

The role of special envoy for the conflict does not currently exist and is set to be created by Trump early in his second term.

Kellogg and fellow Trump national security adviser Fred Fleitz outlined a plan for ending the war earlier this year, saying that they would seek to freeze the front lines and push for a negotiation between Ukraine and Russia.

The proposal would bring about a tectonic shift in how the United States has thus far approached the war and would likely face some opposition from both European allies and Russia war hawks within the Republican Party.

The Trump campaign has emphasized that only comments made by Trump or authorized members of his staff should be taken as official, however.

Russian President Vladimir Putin has said that he would be open to talks but has thus far rebuffed any suggestion that Russia should give up on its stated military aims of demilitarizing Ukraine and preventing its accession to NATO.

Ukrainian President Volodomyr Zelenskyy has similarly signaled a belief that negotiations will happen more quickly with Trump in office, but has thus far refuted the possibility of ceding territory to Russia as part of a settlement.

Kellogg and Fleitz previously published some of the points of their plan in a research paper for the Trump-aligned America First Policy Institute think tank, where both hold leadership positions.

That report characterized Russia’s invasion of Ukraine as an avoidable conflict brought about by the Biden administration’s foreign policy platform.

The paper also underscored Putin’s repeated claims that Ukraine must not be allowed to join NATO, and that allowing it to do so would undermine its national security.

Ukraine was not being considered for NATO membership at the time of Russia’s invasion.

There are now some efforts by NATO members to establish a pathway to membership for Kyiv, but it is unlikely the nation could ever be admitted to the alliance under current conditions. That is in part because membership requires the unanimous consent of all NATO powers, including Hungary and Turkey, who have vocally opposed the idea for several years.

The report by Kellogg and Fleitz also underscored the danger of critically depleting U.S. weapon stockpiles, as much of the military assistance thus far sent to Ukraine has been transferred directly from U.S. reserves through presidential drawdown authorities.

Potential munitions shortages, and the growing alliance between Russia, China, Iran, and North Korea as an effect of the war, are reason enough to wind down U.S. involvement in the war, the report reads.