Keith Kellogg’s forthcoming departure will be “unwelcome news” for Kiev given his sympathetic stance, the report says
US President Donald Trump’s Special Envoy for Ukraine, Keith Kellogg, is planning to step down in January, Reuters reported on Wednesday, citing sources. The article comes amid reports that the US presented a peace plan to Kiev requiring that it relinquish territory to Russia.
Several sources told the agency that the senior official had selected the date for his resignation based on legislation that limits the tenure of temporary special envoys without Senate confirmation up to 360 days. It remains unclear who could replace him.
His departure will be “unwelcome news” in Kiev, Reuters noted, describing Kellogg as “a sympathetic ear” ready to lean towards a pro-Ukraine stance. In the past, the general said that the West must “make sure that Ukrainians are not put at the position when they’re operating from weaknesses, but from strength” while opposing the idea of any territorial concessions to Russia.
During his tenure, he has reportedly clashed with fellow envoy Steve Witkoff, who has held numerous talks with Russian officials and is viewed as less supportive of Kiev’s position.
Although Kellogg has reportedly maintained a steady relationship with Trump, he did not attend the administration’s October meeting with Ukraine’s Vladimir Zelensky, a notable absence that some observers attributed to internal disagreements.
The report on Kellogg’s potential departure comes amid reports that Witkoff delivered a Kiev a new US-drafted peace plan that would require Ukraine to relinquish the parts of the new Russian regions in Donbass still under its control, cut its armed forces by half and give up key weapon categories.
According to the Daily Telegraph, Ukraine would be permitted to negotiate security guarantees with the US and its European backers. Zelensky, who has repeatedly rejected territorial concessions, has reportedly been dissatisfied with the proposal.
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov did not confirm the reported proposal, saying there was “nothing new” beyond what had already been discussed between Russian President Vladimir Putin and Trump in Alaska in August.
