“Together, we will secure peace through strength and make America and the world safe again.” That was Donald Trump’s line on November 27, 2024, when the president-elect named retired General Keith Kellogg his special envoy for Ukraine.
Kellogg was 80 at the time. He had been chief of staff of the National Security Council in Trump’s first term, from 2017 to 2021, and national security adviser to Vice President Mike Pence. Al Jazeera notes a Vietnam record and a stint in Iraq’s transitional government after the 2003 invasion. The Kyiv Independent added a detail about the hiring: Richard Grenell, a former intelligence director, had been floated for the job the week before.
What the plan says
The mechanics matter here, because Kellogg already had a blueprint on paper. He wrote a strategy paper with Fred Fleitz, published by the America First Policy Institute, that argues for a “ceasefire and negotiated settlement.” The Kyiv Independent dates the proposal to June 2024; Al Jazeera says April. Either way, the terms are consistent.
Aid to Ukraine continues, but only if Kyiv joins peace talks. Ukraine’s NATO application gets postponed, which is meant to give Moscow a reason to sit down. Russia could win sanctions relief if it signs a deal. Levies on Russian energy sales would pay for Ukraine’s reconstruction. The Kyiv Independent’s account of the same paper stresses the leverage over Kyiv: no aid without talks, front lines frozen where they stand, NATO membership off the table.
The catch is that Zelenskyy wants the opposite sequence. His “victory plan” rests on NATO admission and on steady economic and military support with no strings. Kellogg ties the aid to diplomacy.
Where it gets hard
Trump has promised a quick end to the war and says he would negotiate a deal “that’s good for both sides.” He also declines to give details: “I can’t give you those plans because if I give you those plans, I’m not going to be able to use them.” Vice President JD Vance has suggested a demilitarized zone along the current lines. Al Jazeera reads that as Ukraine ceding occupied ground in Luhansk, Donetsk, Kherson, Zaporizhia and Crimea. Ukraine insists any settlement must void Russia’s annexations.
Keir Giles of Chatham House doubts the sequencing works. “Russia will negotiate until it feels like it is in a comfortable position,” he said, and “a pause in fighting can be disastrous” for Ukraine. A ceasefire, in his telling, looks like resolution to Western capitals but looks like preparation time to Moscow.
The Kyiv Independent also flagged the timing. Russian forces were gaining ground quickly, and North Korean troops were in Russia’s Kursk Oblast. Trump, for his part, has praised Putin and questioned continued American assistance to Ukraine.
Sources
- Trump Nominates General Keith Kellogg as Ukraine Peace Envoy
- How does Trump envoy Keith Kellogg want to end the Russia-Ukraine war?
Sources
- Trump nominates retired General Keith Kellogg for Ukraine peace…
- How does Trump envoy Keith Kellogg want to end the… | Al Jazeera
