Trump's envoy for Ukraine tells ITV News the US will not walk away from the country

ITV News

05-06-2025

'I think that would keep going on': Ukraine envoy Keith Kellogg says the US doesn't plan to cut off Ukraine militarily
Words by ITV News US Correspondent Dan Rivers and Washington News Editor Jonathan Wald
President Trump's envoy for Ukraine, General Keith Kellogg, has told ITV News Ukraine's attack on Russian bombers was 'audacious' and 'provocative', but America is not going to abandon the country if negotiations stall.
'I think the pipeline is there to allow stuff to still come in, and the intelligence support is there. I think that would keep going on," he said.
General Kellogg confirmed no one in the administration knew about the plans to strike Russian strategic bombers ahead of the attack, adding: 'I'm sure President Trump would have picked up the phone and said, I don't know if you want to go there. You don't want to do that."
He also confirmed that President Trump described the attack as 'strong' and 'badass'.
General Kellogg denied that Ukraine's attack, codenamed Operation Spiderweb, has damaged the ongoing peace negotiations, saying 'it kind of advances where you want to get to, which is conflict resolution.'
He added: 'It shows…the Ukrainians are willing to raise the risk profile and they're also willing to do something that is kind of unusual. And going after the bombers is pretty significant.'
'You've got to give him credit for what was a fairly audacious move.'
President Trump has previously dismissed the possibility of Ukraine joining Nato, while the war is currently being waged.
"Nato," Trump said in February, "you can forget about. I think that's probably the reason the whole war started."
Today, General Kellogg said admitting Ukraine into Nato might be an option, if Putin reneges on any deal that is brokered by America.
'If you don't fulfil the agreement, then we ought to talk about immediately bringing Ukraine into Nato, immediately vote on it. It takes 32 out of 32 to do that…So I think you've got to give the carrot and the stick and say, okay, what's the carrot?'
General Kellogg was in the Oval Office when President Trump spoke yesterday to President Putin.
He said his years of studying Putin had indicated to him the Russian leader would not use a tactical nuclear weapon on Ukraine, saying, 'I think he made a comment, that's not where he's going to go'.
But General Kellogg added a note of caution, warning: 'There's a thing called an escalation ladder, and you're clearly on an escalation ladder. The question is, how do you get off it? And so you start to go up the ladder.
"And I always have said in the national security space, make sure once you get on that ladder, you know what rung you're going to get off on and figure, okay, if you reach a point, where do you move to?
"How do you and how do you do that? And that's absolutely critical for his advisors to tell him that.'
He also echoed Secretary of State Marco Rubio's recent comments that the US is 'now walking away, from 'walking away'' from Ukraine.
'You know, being with the president yesterday. I don't know if you follow American hockey, ice hockey, but in American ice hockey, if two players get into a fight, they, what they call 'drop gloves', the referee will wait till one of them goes down to the ice before he intervenes, and then they intervene.
"And, you know, part of that may be saying, okay, when you guys get tired of killing each other, give us a call. You've got my phone number, and we'll come and we'll try to figure it out. And maybe walking away is telling them, you guys keep knocking yourself around, and sooner or later you're going to get tired of doing that, and then we'll be around.'
He also made it clear that some countries in Europe have not met their Nato defence spending commitments - made at a summit 11 years ago in Wales - agreeing some nations have been getting a free ride.
'I think there are countries there that have not met what they agreed to in the Wales Declaration that everybody signed up to," he said.
"And I think, like, for example, I think Chancellor Merz is in the White House today. And I think when you went back to Angela Merkel when she was chancellor, they didn't meet the 2% at all. Even though she signed it, she signed the Wales Declaration, they kind of walked away from it. So when you say free rides, you know, they weren't owning up to the obligations that they all agreed to.'
He did however have praise for British Prime Minister Keir Starmer, saying: 'I think your prime minister has been very, very out front and everything in saying what he wants to do. And I think it sends a very strong and a good message.
"I think the fact is that keeping the Europeans tight together is very, very important. What the Europe we see here from the United States today is significantly different than what we saw four years ago. You know, it was a fairly fragmented Europe, and now the Europeans seem to be pretty good, in lockstep with each other. And I think your prime minister sets the tone for that as well.
"And, you know, today we have Chancellor Merz, the German chancellor at the White House, and I think that is going to be echoed that the Europeans are basically in lockstep, working together. And I think that's very important.'
Although talks have made little progress so far, the very act of getting Ukrainian and Russian officials around a table is notable. Kellogg thinks that if anyone can close the gap between the two sides, it is President Trump.
'I tell you, I would never, ever bet against Donald J Trump. Never. That's one thing I've learned from being with him is, you know, he'll figure a way to do it. He'll bring it to a close. He's the ultimate closer.'