Trump taps retired general Keith Kellogg for key Ukraine conflict role

Critics warn Trump loyalist Keith Kellogg will leverage US military aid to pressure Kyiv into ceding occupied territory permanently or agreeing not to join NATO.

Donald Trump with Keith Kellogg, a long time ally, in Mar-a-Lago. Picture: AFP

US President-elect Donald Trump announced Wednesday that he was nominating staunch loyalist and retired general Keith Kellogg as his Ukraine envoy, charged with ending the two-and-a-half-year Russian invasion.

Trump campaigned on a platform of ushering a swift end to the Ukraine war, boasting that he would quickly mediate a ceasefire deal between President Volodymyr Zelensky and Russian leader Vladimir Putin.

But his critics have warned that the incoming Republican will likely leverage US military aid to pressure Kyiv into an agreement that left it ceding occupied territory permanently or agreeing not to join NATO.

“I am very pleased to nominate General Keith Kellogg to serve as Assistant to the President and Special Envoy for Ukraine and Russia,” Trump said in a statement on social media.

“Keith has led a distinguished Military and Business career, including serving in highly sensitive National Security roles in my first Administration.”

It came as the Wall Street Journal reported that the Biden administration doesn’t have enough time left to use the billions of dollars lawmakers have authorised to arm Ukraine, US and congressional officials said, leaving in Mr Trump’s hands what to do with the remaining money.

The WSJ reports that the Pentagon has reached the limit of the weapons it can send Ukraine each month without affecting its own fighting capability, and is facing logistical challenges in getting the arms to Kyiv’s forces.

Donald Trump with General H.R. McMaster and Keith Kellogg during his last administration. Picture: AFP.

General Kellogg, an 80 year old national security veteran, co-wrote an academic paper earlier this year calling for Washington to leverage military aid as a means of pushing for peace talks.

Ukraine has received almost $60 billion from Washington for its armed forces since Russia launched a full-scale invasion in February 2022, but with the more isolationist Trump taking over the White House, supporters fear the spigot will run dry.

“The United States would continue to arm Ukraine and strengthen its defences to ensure Russia will make no further advances and will not attack again after a ceasefire or peace agreement,” Kellogg’s research paper for the Trumpist America First Policy Institute think tank said.

“Future American military aid, however, will require Ukraine to participate in peace talks with Russia.” Kellogg served in several positions during Trump’s first term, including as chief of staff on the White House national security council and national security adviser to then-vice president Mike Pence.

General Kellogg told Voice of America at the Republican convention in July that Ukraine’s options were “quite clear.”

“If Ukraine doesn’t want to negotiate, fine, but then accept the fact that you can have enormous losses in your cities and accept the fact that you will have your children killed, accept the fact that you don’t have 130,000 dead, you will have 230,000-250,000,” he said.

Mr Trump’s announcement came as the a White House official urged Ukraine to enlist more recruits by reducing the minimum age of conscription to 18.

Facing a much larger enemy with more advanced weapons and with stocks of volunteers dwindling, Ukraine is facing an “existential” recruitment crunch, the senior official told reporters.

“The simple truth is that Ukraine is not currently mobilising or training enough soldiers to replace their battlefield losses while keeping pace with Russia’s growing military,” said the official, speaking on the condition of anonymity.

He was pressed on what Washington considers an appropriate minimum age and he replied that “we think there’s real value in them considering lowering the recruiting age to 18” – in line with the US benchmark.

He added that an additional 160,000 troops would be “on the low end” to fill out Ukraine’s ranks – but “a good start.” The former Soviet republic’s population has fallen by more than a quarter since its mid-1990s peak of 52 million, and authorities are desperate to shield the younger generation – but a US congressional report in June estimated the average Ukrainian soldier is 40.

Mr Zelensky signed a decree in April lowering the draft age from 27 to 25 but the move did not alleviate the chronic troop shortages, according to US officials.

AFP