Former US envoy Kellogg backs Ukrainian strikes on Russia, breaks with Trump
Keith Kellogg, who served as US special envoy for Ukraine until the end of 2025, said at the Warsaw Security Forum that Kyiv should be free to strike targets on Russian territory, directly contradicting President Donald Trump's weekend calls for Ukraine to halt such attacks. Kellogg dismissed Trump's recent statements as "noise" and said he does not expect the latest dispute to escalate into another Oval Office confrontation.
Key points
- Former US special envoy for Ukraine Keith Kellogg said Kyiv should be free to strike Russian targets, in an interview with Bloomberg Television at the Warsaw Security Forum.
- Kellogg invoked his Vietnam War experience to argue the enemy should not be allowed safe zones and said: "Let the Ukrainians do what they do very well."
- Kellogg's position breaks with Trump's weekend calls for Kyiv to stop air attacks on Russian oil refineries.
- Kellogg dismissed Trump's recent statements, including the suggestion that Volodymyr Zelensky consider leaving the presidency, as "noise."
- He said the rhetoric "will somehow settle itself" and pointed to developments on the battlefield, where he said Russia is not winning but prolonging the war.
- The new dispute was triggered by Trump's contested arrangement with Vladimir Putin on Russian diesel supplies to world markets, ahead of the November 3 US midterm elections.
Why it matters
Public disagreement from a former top US envoy highlights how far the current US debate over Ukraine has shifted: a figure who once carried Trump's policy message is now openly backing the strikes Trump wants to stop. The exchange took place at a major European security forum, alongside allied statements supporting Kyiv, and is unfolding against US midterm-economy politics and a contested Trump–Putin deal on Russian diesel. Kellogg's framing, of battlefield reality rather than rhetoric, signals he expects the policy fight to be settled by results on the ground rather than in Washington.
What happened
Speaking on the sidelines of the Warsaw Security Forum, former US special envoy for Ukraine Keith Kellogg told Bloomberg Television that Kyiv should be free to strike targets on Russian territory, citing his experience in the Vietnam War to argue that enemies should not be allowed safe zones. His remarks put him at odds with President Donald Trump, who over the weekend called on Kyiv to stop air attacks on Russian oil refineries, and Trump has separately suggested that Volodymyr Zelensky consider leaving the presidency. Kellogg described Trump's statements as "noise," said he does not expect the dispute to escalate into another Oval Office confrontation like the one in February 2025, and characterised both Trump and Zelensky as stubborn leaders who say what they think. He argued that Russia is not winning the war but prolonging it, and that Putin is acting from a position of weakness while trying to exploit the approaching US midterm elections. Kellogg said Russia's cumulative military losses already stand at an estimated 1.2 to 1.5 million personnel, surpassing Soviet losses during the ten-year war in Afghanistan. The fresh row was triggered by a disputed arrangement between Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin on Russian diesel supplies to world markets; Kellogg considers the deal disadvantageous to Putin and unlikely to move global prices.
Background
Kellogg served as Trump's special envoy for Ukraine until the end of 2025; his reported departure was linked to frustration with colleagues in the administration he believed were falling for Russian tactics. On October 11, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said he was ready to halt strikes on Russian oil refineries if Moscow stopped attacks on Ukrainian energy infrastructure, but insisted de-escalation must be mutual and backed by real guarantees, and said Putin does not want to abandon such attacks. On October 12, Polish Foreign Minister Radosław Sikorski, also at the Warsaw Security Forum, urged Trump to pressure Russia rather than Ukraine and backed continued European aid to Kyiv and tougher sanctions on Moscow. The same day, the European Union approved a new sanctions package targeting more than 1,600 individuals and organisations.