Trump removed Kellogg from the war settlement negotiations at Russia’s request, – NBC

Retired U.S. Lieutenant General Keith Kellogg was not involved in peace negotiations at the Kremlin’s demand, as Moscow deemed his stance “too pro-Ukrainian”.

This information reported according to NBC News.

The report notes that Kellogg’s absence was particularly noticeable during two recent meetings in Saudi Arabia. A senior Russian official told NBC News that President Vladimir Putin considered Kellogg too sympathetic toward Ukraine.

“Kellogg is a former American general, too close to Ukraine. He is not our kind of person, not the caliber we are looking for,” the official stated.

A U.S. official in Donald Trump’s administration confirmed to NBC News that Russia did not want Kellogg to be involved in the negotiations.

A day before this report, Politico wrote that Kellogg had been “sidelined” in negotiations between Ukraine and Russia. The newspaper drew this conclusion after his absence at the Jeddah meeting, and the claim was supported by Trump administration officials and Republican foreign policy experts.

“Kellogg’s role is highly uncertain. It’s unclear why the president has not made a final decision on this. There are already too many key players involved, plus Witkoff, who is trying to be the central figure in ending the war. Kellogg is just limping along, adding confusion over who is doing what,” a Trump administration representative told Politico.

Many officials saw this shift as strengthening the camp that is more skeptical of continued U.S. support for Ukraine. NBC News also claimed that Kellogg had good relations with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky.

In mid-February, the U.S. appointed a special envoy to represent Washington in the peace negotiation processregarding Ukraine. Following this, Kellogg visited Kyiv, where he called Zelensky “a courageous leader of the nation.” Shortly after, his name stopped appearing in discussions about the peace talks.