The full, untold story of Trump's U-turn on Ukraine
On the other end of the line was Radoslaw Sikorski, Poland's foreign minister, with what could be one of the defining interventions of Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine.
Overnight, the Polish consulate in central Kyiv had been damaged in a barrage of Russian missiles and drones.
'Putin is mocking your peace efforts,' Mr Sikorski told Gen Kellogg, a retired lieutenant general who serves as Donald Trump's lead Ukraine envoy.
'Please restore supplies of anti-aircraft ammunition to Ukraine,' he added.
Weapon deliveries had suddenly been frozen two days before, leading many to believe the Trump administration was once again abandoning Ukraine.
During the phone call, it was the heads-up about the embassy strike that appeared to resonate most with Gen Kellogg.
As a retired three-star general, he knew this was the type of incident that leads to wars escalating and eventually spiralling out of control.
What happened next can be seen as the first in a series of events which ushered in Mr Trump's pivot on Ukraine.
Almost immediately after ending his call with Mr Sikorski, Gen Kellogg dialled the president's number.
Mr Trump answered almost straight away.
After the July 4 well-wishes and congratulations for the ' one, big, beautiful bill ', the pair got down to the business of Ukraine.
Overnight, Kyiv had been pummelled with 11 missiles and 539 drones, in what was at the time the largest Russian barrage against the Ukrainian capital since the war began.
More crucially, the strikes came hours after Vladimir Putin, the Russian president, and Mr Trump had spoken on the telephone to discuss ending the war.
It was already known that the US president had grown frustrated with his Russian counterpart's refusal to halt strikes on Ukrainian cities while dismissing an American offer of a ceasefire.
Gen Kellogg briefed his boss on the latest attack and how Nato ally Poland's embassy had been caught up in the strikes.
The envoy then used the call to promote a resumption of Patriot air-defence missiles being sent to Ukraine.
There were discussions on the potential risks and rewards of increasing Kyiv's access to the American-made surface-to-air batteries and the interceptors fired from them.
Mr Trump's response was swift: tell the Pentagon to release some of the Pac-3 systems that had been caught up in a temporary freeze on US aid while officials assessed American stockpiles.
He also ordered Gen Kellogg to contact Pete Hegseth, the US defence secretary, to resume deliveries to Kyiv.
Mr Trump had been blindsided previously after Mr Hegseth authorised a pause in aid to Ukraine without informing the White House or Congress of his decision, it later emerged.
The likes of Gen Kellogg and Marco Rubio, the secretary of state and national security adviser, only learnt about his decision from press reports.
But this time would be different – and Gen Kellogg made sure of that. When he called Mr Hegseth, he told him of the president's decision to resume shipments of Patriot missiles to Ukraine.
He told Mr Hegseth that if he did not believe him, he should call Mr Trump himself.
It was also on July 4 that the US president promised Volodymyr Zelensky, Ukraine's president, that he would finally assist with Kyiv's air defence needs.
Privately, amongst Washington's most hawkish Ukraine supporters, this decision was seen as the first time Mr Trump had realised the significance of using American might to strengthen Kyiv's hand as a potential route to a peace deal.
However, it took the Pentagon at least four days to get the first batch of Patriot missiles on the move.
There had been 40 Pac-3 interceptors ordered by former president Joe Biden's administration in Poland en route to Ukraine.
A dozen of them were eventually released following Mr Trump's call with Gen Kellogg.
This volte face was then leapt on by European capitals confident of tempting the US president to go further in support of Kyiv.
Friedrich Merz, Germany's chancellor, started offering to buy Patriot systems that would be sent to boost the war-torn nation's defences.
Mark Rutte, Nato's secretary-general, went further, offering Mr Trump the opportunity to be reimbursed by European allies and Canada to the tune of billions of dollars in American-made weapons shipped to Ukraine.
It was a deal lapped up by the US president, who had been quietly lobbied by advisers, like Gen Kellogg, that having European nations pay for American weapons shipped to Europe was a demonstration of his 'Make America Great Again' principles.
Those weapons would not only convince Putin to come to the negotiating table, but also exhibit the effectiveness of American weapons during a European attempt to rearm itself through domestic production.
It took Mr Trump just nine more days to announce, alongside Mr Rutte, his $10bn aid pipeline on July 13, as well as the prospect of crippling trade tariffs on Russia and any country that bought its fossil fuels.
By the end of that week, a Patriot air-defence system and more interceptors had already arrived in Ukraine, thanks to a deal with Germany.
The Pentagon and the White House used that move to try to convince European nations to take risks by sending their available stocks to Kyiv while waiting for America to backfill them.
However, it is a tough ask for some countries, given that their Patriots will not be replaced until early next year.
Earlier this week, Berlin announced an agreement with Washington to donate a further five batteries to Ukraine.
Germany will provide funds for two of the systems, while Norway has promised to pay for a third.
The replacements are expected to come from orders once promised to Switzerland.
Bern last week revealed it had been told by Washington that deliveries destined for the neutral nation were being diverted to support Kyiv.
Mr Trump was advised that diverting the Swiss order would help free up the systems necessary to support Ukraine.
In 2022, Switzerland ordered five Patriot systems, with the expectation that deliveries would start in 2026 and end two years later.
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