According to Keith Kellogg, who Donald Trump picked to serve as special envoy for Ukraine and Russia, the ongoing war between the two countries will be “resolved in the next few months” once the president-elect takes office.
Kellogg, who served as chief of staff to the National Security Council (NSC) and national security adviser to former Vice President Mike Pence, is expected to play a pivotal role in potential negotiations to end Russia’s ongoing war against Ukraine.
Trump, making the announcement about Kellogg on his Truth Social account, wrote last month, “He was with me right from the beginning! Together, we will secure PEACE THROUGH STRENGTH, and Make America, and the World, SAFE AGAIN!”
In an interview with Fox Business, Kellogg, a retired U.S. Army lieutenant general, spoke about the ongoing efforts to bring the war to an end as he stated that he believes it will be “resolved in the next few months” with Trump at the helm.
“The only person who can do this is President Donald Trump, and he will do it. They’re tired of killing each other out there. This is time,” he said.
Newsweek has reached out to Trump’s transition team and the Ukrainian and Russian foreign ministries via email for comment.
In February 2022, Russian President Vladimir Putin launched a full-scale invasion of Ukraine, creating the largest military conflict and refugee crisis in Europe since World War II. The United States is a close ally of Ukraine and has condemned Putin’s invasion, believing it’s an attack on Ukrainian sovereignty. The U.S. has provided billions of dollars in military aid to Kyiv.
Trump, who has criticized the billions of dollars the Biden administration has spent in supporting Ukraine, has said that if he were at the negotiating table with Putin and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, the war between the two nations would end “within 24 hours,” leading to concerns that he would press Zelensky to surrender the territory that Russia currently occupies.
Kellogg’s remarks come after Russia said it’s prepared to consider Trump’s plans for ending the war, according to one of the country’s senior diplomats.
“Russia is ready to study Trump’s proposals on Ukraine, but studying does not mean agreeing,” state news agency RIA Novosti posted to Telegram on Wednesday, citing Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov.
Last week, in a statement on Truth Social, Trump wrote that “Zelensky and Ukraine would like to make a deal and stop the madness.” It came after a meeting with the Ukrainian president and French President Emmanuel Macron in Paris where the three had attended the reopening of the Notre-Dame Cathedral.
“There should be an immediate ceasefire and negotiations should begin,” Trump’s Truth Social post continued. “Too many lives are being so needlessly wasted, too many families destroyed, and if it keeps going, it can turn into something much bigger, and far worse.”
Trump later told the New York Post that Zelensky was in favor of a ceasefire and that Putin should consider the proposal due to the casualties being endured by Russia in the invasion.
“I’m formulating a concept of how to end that ridiculous war,” he added.
However, Zelensky said after the meeting in Paris that while his country was in favor of a peaceful resolution, a crucial aspect of any settlement in the conflict was the assurance that “Russia, Putin, or any other aggressor has no possibility of ever returning.”
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