(Washington) Donald Trump announced Wednesday that he would appoint General Keith Kellogg, who called on Kyiv for several concessions, as an emissary to end the war between Ukraine and Russia.
Posted at 1:10 p.m.
Updated at 2:11 p.m.
Camille CAMDESSUS
Agence France-Presse
“He’s been with me since the beginning!” Together we will achieve peace through strength and make America and the world safe again! », Wrote the president-elect in a publication on his Truth Social network.
Very critical of the billions of dollars released by the United States for Ukraine, Donald Trump promised to resolve the war between Kyiv and Moscow even before taking the oath of office in January – without ever explaining how.
Conditional help
The 80-year-old former general, appointed by the Republican to lead this mission, raised the issue in a note published in April.
“Any future US military aid will require Ukraine to participate in peace talks with Russia,” he urged.
He also called for “postponing Ukraine’s membership in NATO for an extended period” in order to “convince [le président russe Vladimir] Putin to participate in peace talks.
Keith Kellogg, little known to the general public, briefly chaired the National Security Council, the White House foreign policy cabinet, during Donald Trump’s first term.
In his note, co-written with another conservative, the ex-general estimated that “the Ukrainian government and people will have difficulty accepting a negotiated peace which does not return all of their territory to them”.
“But as Donald Trump said […] in 2023, “I want everyone to stop dying”. This is also our point of view. This is a good first step,” he wrote.
“Best Advertising”
Donald Trump, who placed his first term under the sign of “America first”, regularly denounces the enormous amounts released by Washington for Kyiv since the Russian invasion in February 2022.
Just before a meeting with Volodymyr Zelensky in September, he called the Ukrainian president “the best advertisement on the planet”.
“Every time he comes to our country, he leaves with 60 billion dollars,” he quipped.
The two men have since spoken by telephone: just after Donald Trump’s victory in the American presidential election. Volodymyr Zelensky called this call “excellent”.
“We agreed to maintain close dialogue and advance our cooperation,” he said.
Elon Musk, the richest man in the world and a member of the president-elect’s team, participated in this call.
