FILE PHOTO: Keith Kellogg, national security adviser to Vice President Mike Pence, speaks to reporters during a daily press briefing at the White House in Washington, U.S., Sept. 22, 2020.
FILE PHOTO: Keith Kellogg, national security adviser to Vice President Mike Pence, speaks to reporters during a daily press briefing at the White House in Washington, U.S., Sept. 22, 2020.
WASHINGTON - Donald Trump has tapped Keith Kellogg, a retired lieutenant general who has presented him with a plan to end the war in Ukraine, to serve as a special envoy for the conflict, the president-elect wrote on Truth Social on Wednesday.
Kellogg, who was the chief of staff for the White House National Security Council during Trump's 2017-2021 term and national security adviser to then-Vice President Mike Pence, will likely play a central role in attempting to resolve the conflict in his new position.
While there is currently no special envoy for the war in Ukraine, Trump had privately expressed interest in creating the position.
Earlier on Wednesday, Reuters was first to report that Trump was eyeing Kellogg for the role.
Quickly winding down the Ukraine war was one of Trump's central campaign promises, though he has avoided discussing how he would do so.
"Keith has led a distinguished Military and Business career, including serving in highly sensitive National Security roles in my first Administration," Trump said on social media.
Kellogg's plan for ending the war, which began when Russia invaded Ukrainian sovereign territory, involves freezing the battle lines at their prevailing locations and forcing both Kyiv and Moscow to the negotiating table, Reuters reported in June.
(Reporting by Svea Herbst-Bayliss, Steve Holland, Gram Slattery and Alexandra Ulmer; Editing by Ross Colvin, Colleen Jenkins, Jonathan Oatis and Lisa Shumaker)
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