Russia seeks to exclude a key Trump representative from Ukraine discussions, sources report

Russian officials have conveyed to their U.S. counterparts their preference for excluding Russia-Ukraine envoy Keith Kellogg from high-level negotiations aimed at resolving the Ukraine conflict, as reported by a U.S. official and another informed source.

Kellogg has notably missed several key discussions recently, including a meeting on Tuesday in Saudi Arabia that involved U.S. National Security Adviser Mike Waltz and Secretary of State Marco Rubio with a Ukrainian delegation. He was also absent from a significant meeting with Russian officials in Saudi Arabia back in February.

It remains unclear whether Kellogg’s absence is directly related to the request from Russian officials, and the timing of this request has not been disclosed. The U.S. official indicated that the request has not been acted upon, highlighting that Kellogg sent a senior staff member, Eli Rosner, to participate in the recent meeting in Saudi Arabia.

The Russian embassy in Washington has not yet responded to inquiries regarding this matter. National Security Council spokesperson James Hewitt emphasized Kellogg’s vital role in efforts to conclude the Ukraine war.

“President Trump has engaged various senior administration officials to aid in achieving a peaceful resolution to the conflict in Ukraine,” Hewitt stated on Thursday evening.

Since Russia’s intensified invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, the conflict has resulted in hundreds of thousands of casualties, displaced millions, devastated towns, and sparked the most significant confrontation between Moscow and the West in decades. During their recent meeting in Saudi Arabia, the U.S. and Ukraine reached a preliminary agreement on a 30-day ceasefire. However, Russian President Vladimir Putin indicated on Thursday that the ceasefire proposal requires substantial revisions.

The Kremlin’s request to remove Kellogg, initially reported by NBC News, arises from concerns expressed by several senior former Russian officials who believe that Trump’s envoy is overly sympathetic to Kyiv.

Kellogg, a retired lieutenant general, has occasionally been more vocal in his criticism of Russian aggression in Ukraine compared to other officials in the administration. For example, he condemned Russia for its extensive Christmas Day assault on Ukrainian civilian areas. On December 25, he stated on X, “Christmas should be a time of peace, yet Ukraine was brutally attacked on Christmas Day. Launching large-scale missile and drone attacks on the day of the Lord’s birth is wrong.”

Despite this, Kellogg has consistently supported Trump’s stance on the Ukraine conflict, including a recent choice to suspend certain intelligence sharing with Kyiv.

During Trump’s presidency from 2017 to 2021, Kellogg held the position of chief of staff for the National Security Council and served as national security adviser to then-Vice President Mike Pence. He visited President Volodymyr Zelenskiy in Kyiv in February and has engaged with various NATO leaders across Europe.

While some Trump supporters have privately expressed that Kellogg’s approach is too aggressive for their taste, others believe it is advantageous for Trump to have advisers and envoys with diverse profiles and ideological perspectives.