Free Republic

-snip- Trump is a ‘realist’ Yet despite prominent figures within Mr Trump’s coalition warning against overseas military action, congressional Republicans warned that it was not always those who shouted loudest whose opinions carried weight with Mr Trump. “With this president, you are not going to win your policy debate in the media. The idea of loud people leading him is wrong,” a congressional source told The Telegraph. They added that Mr Trump is a “realist and a pragmatist”, which functions as an “ideological difference” from those on the isolationist wing of his party. Another insider added: “Trump can be hawkish...

President Donald Trump’s special envoy to Ukraine, retired Lt. Gen. Keith Kellogg, arrived in Kyiv on Monday to discuss security and sanctions against Russia with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy. Trump has said he will make a “major statement” regarding Russia on Monday, as he’s set to welcome NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte to the White House.

U.S. Special Envoy for Ukraine Keith Kellogg will travel to Kyiv on July 14 for a week-long visit, he confirmed during the Ukraine Recovery Conference in Rome. The visit comes at a critical time, as confusion surrounds the Trump administration's stance on future military aid to Ukraine. Kellogg’s trip follows reports that President Donald Trump may authorize his first new weapons package for Ukraine since taking office, potentially using NATO funding. Until now, the administration has allowed only shipments approved under former President Joe Biden, News.Az reports, citing foreign media. The situation remains tense after the Pentagon unexpectedly paused deliveries...

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said on Wednesday he had held a "substantive" conversation with U.S. President Donald Trump's Ukraine envoy, Keith Kellogg, in Rome shortly after Trump pledged to send more defensive weapons to Kyiv. "We discussed weapons supplies and strengthening air defense. Given the increase in Russian attacks, this remains one of our top priorities," Zelenskiy wrote on the X social media platform. "We also covered the purchase of American weapons, joint defense manufacturing, and localization efforts in Ukraine," he added. Both men were in Italy ahead of a conference on July 10-11 dedicated to Ukraine's recovery and long-term...

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy was due to meet U.S. President Donald Trump's Ukraine envoy, Keith Kellogg in Rome on Wednesday, the Ukrainian leader's spokesperson said, shortly after Trump pledged to send more defensive weapons to Kyiv. The two were travelling to Italy before a conference on July 10-11 dedicated to Ukraine's recovery and long-term reconstruction following Russia's invasion. Attempts by the U.S. to end the war in Ukraine through diplomacy have largely stalled and, on Tuesday, Trump aimed unusually direct criticism at the Russian president, Vladimir Putin. He said on Monday he had approved the supply of additional weapons to...

US President Donald Trump’s envoy, Keith Kellogg, on Wednesday scolded a top Russian official for stoking fears of World War Three after Trump warned President Vladimir Putin was “playing with fire” over Ukraine. -snip- US envoy Kellogg quoted Medvedev’s post and said it reckless. “Stoking fears of WW III is an unfortunate, reckless comment... and unfitting of a world power,” Kellogg said on X. “President Trump @POTUS is working to stop this war and end the killing. We await receipt of RU Memorandum (Term Sheet) that you promised a week ago. Cease fire now.”

US President Donald Trump's Special Envoy for Ukraine and Russia, Keith Kellogg, has said Washington and Kyiv have reached an agreement on 22 concrete action plans aimed at ending the war with Russia. Kellogg spoke to Fox News on Tuesday about last week's peace talks in London, which included representatives from the US, Ukraine, and the E3 countries (the United Kingdom, France, and Germany). “We came up with 22 very specific actions, after very candid and frank and hard discussions with the Ukrainians, we think we're in a very, very good position,” he said. He admitted that Ukrainian officials "didn't...

Lieutenant General Keith Kellogg was also scathing about Russia's military record in Ukraine. -snip- He also issued a blunt assessment of Russia’s military record in Ukraine, arguing that Mr Putin’s forces had failed to achieve any decisive victories. Mr Kellogg said: “Russia's not winning this war. Russia has not made any major advances in the last year and a half. "They haven't taken the city of Kyiv, the capital, they haven't pushed to the west of the Dnipro river (which is the major river obstacle), they haven't taken Odesa. “They've lost hundreds of thousands of soldiers and they haven't really...

President Donald Trump said on Saturday that General Keith Kellogg's role has been narrowed from special envoy for Ukraine and Russia to only Ukraine, after Russian officials had sought to exclude him from talks aiming to end the war. "General Kellogg, a Highly Respected Military Expert, will deal directly with President (Volodymyr Zelenskiy), and Ukrainian leadership," Trump said in a post on Truth Social. "He knows them well, and they have a very good working relationship together." Russian officials had communicated to their counterparts in the United States that they did not want Kellogg involved in top-level discussions aimed at...

President Trump told reporters that Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky will visit the White House on Friday to sign a minerals deal. -snip- Ukrainian and U.S. officials said U.S. envoy Gen. Keith Kellogg played a key role in containing the crisis over the minerals deal and preventing it from turning into a deeper rift between Trump and Zelensky. "General Kellogg's meetings with Zelensky in Kyiv last Wednesday and Thursday were extremely important. Patient, persistent diplomacy can yield results," a U.S. official involved in the talks said.

-snip- A moment came when another soldier, Denis, asked Kellogg if he could pose a question. “He’s earned that right,” Kellogg responded. Denis then asked, “In your opinion, can we trust Russia? That they will negotiate?” Kellogg pointed out that throughout history, “all wars end through negotiation.” “The ultimate victory on the battlefield ends with diplomacy, and today’s world is no different,” he said. “I think a better question would be can you trust the people that you are with to make sure that they’re with you? It’s sort of like you ask a deeper question — are you with...

US special envoy to the Ukraine war retired Gen. Keith Kellogg visited wounded Ukrainian soldiers Friday to thank them for their sacrifices, which he argued has “given us time” to figure out the “right” way to end Russia’s war on their nation. Kellogg, who previously served as a national security adviser to the vice president and chief of staff of the National Security Council in the first Trump administration, met with about 20 veterans of the nearly three-year-long war at Irpin Military Hospital just outside of Kyiv, some of whom have suffered life-altering injuries defending Ukraine from Russian President Vladimir...

U.S. and Ukrainian officials negotiated all night into Friday morning in an attempt to conclude a minerals deal and halt the deterioration in relations, a U.S. official and a source with direct knowledge of the issue tell Axios. -snip- The U.S. official and the source familiar said the decision is now up to Zelensky, and both expressed concern that the U.S.-Ukraine crisis will deepen if he rejects the offer. The U.S. official called it a "make or break scenario for the Ukrainians." -snip- Zelensky had concerns about some provisions of the deal and the fact that it offered no security...

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy says he will be meeting Washington's Ukraine envoy, Keith Kellogg, on Thursday, APA reports citing BBC. During his daily evening address, a tradition since Russia launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine, Zelenskyy says he hopes for "constructive" work with the US. "We are scheduled to meet with General Kellogg tomorrow, and it is very important for us that the meeting and our work with America in general be constructive," Zelenskyy adds. It comes after a rift between the two nations, as US President Donald Trump described the Ukrainian leader as a "dictator" who had "done a...

U.S. President Donald Trump’s envoy for Ukraine and Russia said Wednesday the United States understands the need for security guarantees for Ukraine, as he visited the country for talks with Ukrainian officials. Gen. Keith Kellogg told reporters in Kyiv that he was in Ukraine “to listen,” hear the concerns of Ukrainian leaders and return to the United States to consult President Trump. Kellogg said the United States wants the war in Ukraine to end, saying that would be good for the region and the world. The talks come amid a flurry of diplomatic efforts focused on Russia’s war in Ukraine,...

The United States’ negotiating tactics for bringing an end to the war in Ukraine, which were shared with allies at the Munich Security Conference by US envoy Keith Kellogg, are unorthodox but give hope, Poland’s foreign minister said on Sunday. “General Kellogg has presented to me personally and to the circle of European allies the United States’ negotiating tactics,” Radoslaw Sikorski told reporters. “I will not reveal them here. They raise some hopes. They are unorthodox, but we wish them luck.”

MUNICH, Feb 15 (Reuters) - Europe won't have a seat at the table for Ukraine peace talks, Donald Trump's Ukraine envoy said on Saturday, after Washington sent a questionnaire to European capitals to ask what they could contribute to security guarantees for Kyiv. Trump shocked European allies this week by calling Russian President Vladimir Putin without consulting them or Kyiv beforehand and declaring an immediate start to peace talks.Trump administration officials have also made clear in recent days that they expect European allies in NATO to take primary responsibility for the region as the U.S. now has other priorities, such...

President Donald Trump’s national security adviser said Sunday that top administration officials will meet with European officials this week about how to end the war in Ukraine, nearly three years after Russia launched an all-out invasion. Vice President JD Vance will be in Paris on Monday for an artificial intelligence summit that’s gathering government officials and will head later in the week to the Munich Security Conference, where Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy will lead the battle-weary country’s delegation. Secretary of State Marco Rubio, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth and Trump’s special envoy on Ukraine and Russia, Keith Kellogg, will also be...

The US won’t repeat the mistakes of the Iraq War by failing to secure valuable resources from Ukraine in exchange for help ending Russia’s nearly three-year-old invasion, President Trump’s special envoy to the conflict exclusively told The Post. “When you look at the mineral deposits in that country, we’re not talking millions of dollars. We’re talking — virtually every region, we’re talking about billions, and then some regions are [worth] trillions,” retired Gen. Keith Kellogg said this week. “You can come up with a deal, and that’s what [Trump] has the Treasury looking at: ‘OK, how do you make a...

Ukraine, keen for continued U.S. support in its war with Russia, is looking forward to a visit this month by U.S. President Donald Trump's special envoy for the region, President Volodymyr Zelenskiy's chief of staff said on Friday. Andriy Yermak said he had spoken to envoy Keith Kellogg about topics including the battlefield situation, the safety of Ukrainian civilians, and meetings at the annual Munich Security Conference later this month. "The Ukrainian side is looking forward to the visit of the U.S. Special Envoy for Ukraine and Russia, Keith Kellogg, in February to provide comprehensive information on Russian aggression against...