Retired Lt. Gen. Keith Kellogg, President-elect Trump’s choice as special envoy to Ukraine and Russia, condemned Russia’s missile and drone attacks on Christmas Day and said the United States was “more determined than ever to bring peace to the region.”
“Christmas should be a time of peace, but Ukraine was brutally attacked on Christmas,” Kellogg wrote on the social platform X on Wednesday. “It is wrong to carry out large-scale missile and drone attacks on the Lord’s Birthday. The world is closely watching the actions of both sides. “The United States is more determined than ever to bring peace to this region.”
Kellogg’s comments come as Russian forces attacked Ukraine’s energy supplies and infrastructure on Wednesday. Kremlin forces struck 78 air and ground missiles and 106 Shahed drones, the Ukrainian Air Force said. Ukraine’s Defense Ministry said it intercepted 54 Shahed drones and 59 missiles.
Not all were blocked and some hit targets in several Ukrainian cities, causing power outages. One person was killed in the attack in the Dnipropetrovsk region, and at least six people were injured in the Kharkiv region.
“Today, President Putin deliberately chose Christmas as a target for attack,” Prime Minister Zelensky said. “What could be more inhuman than this? Over 70 missiles, including ballistic missiles, and over 100 attack drones. The target is our energy infrastructure. “They continue to fight for a ceasefire in Ukraine.”
Trump appointed Kellogg, who served as a member of the National Security Council (NSC) during his first term, in late November. He called for a ceasefire in the conflict, which has continued since February 2022.
In his book, Kellogg argued that further U.S. military support for the war-torn country would depend on Ukraine’s willingness to engage in peace talks with Russia. He said that to bring Russia to the negotiating table, NATO leaders should delay Kiev’s accession to the military alliance “for an extended period of time” “in exchange for a comprehensive and verifiable peace agreement that includes security guarantees.”
During his campaign, Trump pledged to end the war in Eastern Europe within a day. He has criticized the Biden administration’s policy of allowing Ukraine to use U.S.-supplied weapons to attack inside Russia.
The president-elect met with President Zelenskyy and French President Emmanuel Macron in Paris earlier this month. President Trump and the Ukrainian president also met in New York in late September to discuss ending the conflict.
President Trump said over the weekend that Russian President Vladimir Putin had shown a willingness to meet with the next commander-in-chief to discuss war issues.
“President Putin said he would like to meet with me as soon as possible,” President Trump said at the Turning Point Americafest convention. “So we have to wait for this, but we have to end that war. That war is terrible, terrible.”
