Trump's Special Envoy to Ukraine: U.S. is More Determined Than Ever to Achieve Peace

On Christmas Day, Keith Kellogg, President-elect Donald Trump's newly appointed special envoy to Ukraine and Russia, criticized Russia's missile and drone attacks, stating that the United States is more determined than ever to work towards peace in the region.

Keith Kellogg, National Security Advisor to U.S. Vice President Mike Pence, speaks at a press briefing at the White House on September 22, 2020. (Photo: Saul Loeb/AFP)

Christmas should be a time of peace, yet Ukraine was brutally attacked on Christmas Day,

– Keith Kellogg wrote on his X page on Wednesday.

Launching large-scale missile and drone attacks on the day of the Lord's birth is wrong. The world is closely watching actions on both sides. The U.S. is more resolved than ever to bring peace to the region,

– President-elect Donald Trump's special envoy to Ukraine and Russia stated.  

Christmas should be a time of peace, yet Ukraine was brutally attacked on Christmas Day. Launching large-scale missile and drone attacks on the day of the Lord’s birth is wrong. The world is closely watching actions on both sides. The U.S. is more resolved than ever to bring…

— Keith Kellogg (@generalkellogg) December 25, 2024

According to a piece published by The Hill, Mr. Kellogg’s remarks came as Russia’s military hit Ukraine’s energy supplies and infrastructure repeatedly, on Wednesday. Russian forces attacked with 78 air and ground missiles and 106 Shahed drones, while Ukraine’s air defense said it intercepted 54 Shahed drones and 59 missiles. Some hit targets in multiple Ukrainian cities and caused power outages. Due to the attack, one person died in the Dnipropetrovsk region, while at least six people were injured around Kharkiv. 

Trump's Ukraine-Russia envoy slams Kremlin's Christmas Day attack https://t.co/edV1ARvWD8

— The Hill (@thehill) December 25, 2024

Trump appointed Mr. Kellogg, who served on the President-elect’s National Security Council during his first term, in late November. 

Previously, Mr. Kellogg argued that 

any further U.S. military aid to the war-torn country should depend on Ukraine’s willingness to enter peace talks with Russia. 

He said that in order to bring Russia to the negotiating table, NATO leaders should delay Kyiv’s entrance into the military alliance for an “extended period” in “exchange for a comprehensive and verifiable peace deal with security guarantees.

Donald Trump has already vowed on the campaign trail to put an immediate end to the Russia-Ukraine war, if elected, and to create peace in every war-torn region. The President-elect met with Volodymyr Zelensky and French President Emmanuel Macron in Paris earlier this month. Trump and Ukraine’s president also met in late September in New York City where they discussed ending the conflict.

The deteriorating relations between Russia and Ukraine devolved into an armed conflict in 2014, eventually escalating into a full-scale war. The first two years of the war brought dramatic devastation, and the fighting showed no signs of abating in 2024.

Cover photo: Keith Kellogg, National Security Advisor to U.S. Vice President Mike Pence, speaks at a press briefing at the White House on September 22, 2020 (Photo: AFP/Saul Loeb)