Keith Kellogg is expected to promote Washington’s peace plan in the coming weeks
Keith Kellogg, the US presidential envoy for the Ukraine conflict, will reportedly meet with European officials in the coming weeks to advance President Donald Trump’s objectives. The diplomatic campaign will reportedly kick off at the Munich Security Conference (MSC) on Friday, as the new US administration aims to recoup funds expended on the conflict in recent years.
On Monday, Bloomberg and The Telegraph described Kellogg’s plans to gather feedback from trans-Atlantic partners before finalizing a strategy for achieving a truce with Russia, citing insider sources. He is interested in Europeans’ “willingness to take the lead on providing deterrent forces to ensure that any peace settlement holds,” Bloomberg reported. Kellogg is also expected to make it clear that the US has no intention of deploying troops to protect Ukraine and wants European NATO allies to increase their defense spending.
The Telegraph claimed that Kellogg has reassured European officials of Trump’s commitment to maintaining some level of military assistance to Kiev. Concerns have been raised about the extent of Kellogg’s influence over Trump, after he reportedly said he was surprised by the president’s announcement of scheduled talks with Ukrainian leader Vladimir Zelensky.
Trump aims to recoup money expended for support for Ukraine allocated under his predecessor, Joe Biden, by seeking rights to the country’s natural resources. In an interview with Fox News’ Bret Baier, he said he had effectively secured $500 billion worth of rare-earth minerals as compensation, regardless of the outcome of negotiations with Russia. “They may make a deal, they may not make a deal, they may be Russian someday, or they may not be Russian someday, but we’re gonna have all this money in there, and I say, I want it back.”
US Vice President J.D. Vance will lead the American delegation at the MSC, where he is expected to meet with Zelensky. Secretary of State Marco Rubio has said the conference is an opportunity for American officials to “lay out a broad path forward” on Ukraine. Zelensky has claimed that Trump can achieve “peace through strength” with continued military assistance. He has conceded that without US support, the Ukrainian army risks collapse.
Russian officials have rejected the idea of freezing the conflict along the current front lines, insisting on a comprehensive resolution addressing the underlying causes of hostilities, which include NATO expansion in Europe and discriminatory policies against ethnic Russians in Ukraine.
