Trump Ukraine envoy Kellogg has plan to end war by playing hardball with U.S. aid

Donald Trump has selected his former National Security Council Chief of Staff Keith Kellogg to join his second term as a special envoy to Ukraine.

President-elect Trump announced the move in a post to Truth Social saying that Kellogg would help secure “peach through strength” and make America “safe again.”

I am very pleased to nominate General Keith Kellogg to serve as Assistant to the President and Special Envoy for Ukraine and Russia,” Trump wrote on Wednesday. “Keith has led a distinguished Military and Business career, including serving in highly sensitive National Security roles in my first Administration. He was with me right from the beginning!”

The retired lieutenant general presented Trump with a plan to end the conflict between Ukraine and Russia in June, per a report from Reuters. The plan called for the U.S. to pressure Ukraine to enter peace talks by making them a condition of future weapons shipments. 

Kellogg laid out the hardball aspect of the plan to Reuters, using U.S. aid as a tool to bring both sides to the negotiating table.

“We tell the Ukrainians, ‘You’ve got to come to the table, and if you don’t come to the table, support from the United States will dry up,'” he said. “And you tell Putin, ‘He’s got to come to the table and if you don’t come to the table, then we’ll give Ukrainians everything they need to kill you in the field.'”

Kellogg’s plan, co-authored by former Trump admin figure Fred Fleitz, would base a ceasefire on current battle lines at the start of the peace talks, something that is likely to rankle Kyiv. Trump campaigned on ending the war in Ukraine and has spoken to Ukranian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy in the days since winning the election. Notably, he had campaign financier and head of a planned “government efficiency” department Elon Musk sit in on the talk.