Trump narrows Kellogg's role to Ukraine leadership after Russian complaints

(Patria) - President Donald Trump said on Saturday that General Keith Kellogg's role has been narrowed from special envoy for Ukraine and Russia to Ukraine, after Russian officials attempted to exclude him from negotiations aimed at ending the war, Reuters reported.

"General Kellogg, a highly respected military expert, will deal directly with President
(Volodymyr Zelenskyy) and the Ukrainian leadership," Trump said in a post on the social network Truth Social.

"He knows them well and they have a very good working relationship together."

Russian officials told their counterparts in the United States that they did not want Kellogg involved in high-level talks to end the war in Ukraine, sources told Reuters this week. Some high-ranking former Russian officials complained that Kellogg, in their opinion, was too favorable to Kyiv.

Kellogg (80) was personally absent from some high-level discussions in recent weeks, including a meeting attended by US National Security Advisor Mike Waltz and Secretary of State Marco Rubio with a Ukrainian delegation in Saudi Arabia on Tuesday.

The US and Ukraine have agreed in principle to a thirty-day ceasefire during the meeting in Saudi Arabia. However, Russian President Vladimir Putin suggested on Thursday that the ceasefire proposal needs serious revision.

Kellogg was also absent from a high-level meeting with Russians in Saudi Arabia in
February.