Russia seeks to exclude key Trump envoy from Ukraine talks, sources say

Russian officials have communicated to their counterparts in the United States that they do not want Russia-Ukraine envoy Keith Kellogg involved in top-level discussions aimed at ending the Ukraine war, according to a U.S. official and another source with knowledge of the matter.

Kellogg has been personally absent from some high-level discussions in recent weeks, including a meeting involving U.S. National Security Adviser Mike Waltz and Secretary of State Marco Rubio with a Ukrainian delegation in Saudi Arabia on Tuesday. He was also absent at a high-level meeting with Russians in Saudi Arabia in February.

It was not immediately clear if Kellogg’s absence was linked to the Russian officials’ request, and it was not clear when the request was made.

The U.S. official said the request had not been heeded, citing the fact that Kellogg sent a high-ranking member of his staff, Eli Rosner, to attend the latest Saudi meeting.

The Russian embassy in Washington did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

National Security Council spokesperson James Hewitt said Kellogg was playing a crucial role in bringing the Ukraine war to an end.

“President Trump has utilized the talents of multiple senior administration officials to assist in the bringing the war in Ukraine to a peaceful resolution,” Hewitt said on Thursday evening.

Russia’s expanded invasion of Ukraine in February 2022 has left hundreds of thousands of dead and injured, displaced millions of people, reduced towns to rubble and triggered the sharpest confrontation for decades between Moscow and the West.

The U.S. and Ukraine agreed to a 30-day ceasefire in principle during their meeting in Saudi Arabia earlier in the week. But Russian President Vladimir Putin suggested on Thursday that the ceasefire bid needs serious reworking.

The Kremlin’s request to exclude Kellogg, first reported by NBC News, comes as some high-ranking former Russian officials have complained that Trump’s envoy is, in their view, too sympathetic to Kyiv.

A retired lieutenant general, Kellogg has at times been more critical of Russian aggression in Ukraine than other administration officials. For instance, he sharply criticized Russia for a large-scale Christmastime attack on Ukrainian population centers.

“Christmas should be a time of peace, yet Ukraine was brutally attacked on Christmas Day,” Kellogg wrote on Dec. 25 on X. “Launching large-scale missile and drone attacks on the day of the Lord’s birth is wrong.”

Still, Kellogg has consistently defended Trump’s positions on the Ukraine war, including a recent decision to pause some intelligence sharing with Kyiv.

Kellogg served as the chief of staff to the National Security Council during Trump’s 2017-2021 term and as the national security adviser to then-Vice President Mike Pence.

He met with President Volodymyr Zelenskiy in Kyiv in February, and has met with a number of NATO leaders throughout Europe.

While some Trump supporters have privately argued Kellogg is too hawkish for their liking, others have said it benefits Trump to have advisers and envoys with different profiles and ideological backgrounds.

Source: Reuters
--Agencies