NATO troops from Europe could help maintain the peace in Ukraine following a ceasefire, U.S. President Donald Trump‘s special envoy has said.
On Friday, Retired Lieutenant General Keith Kellogg posted on X, formerly Twitter, that a post-ceasefire “resiliency force” could support Ukraine’s sovereignty, with allied troops—who were not from the U.S.—taking over “zones of responsibility” in the country.
Newsweek has contacted NATO and the Ukrainian Foreign Ministry for comment.
U.S. Special Envoy for Ukraine and Russia Keith Kellogg in the White House in Washington, D.C., on March 13.
U.S. Special Envoy for Ukraine and Russia Keith Kellogg in the White House in Washington, D.C., on March 13.
Andrew Harnik/Getty Images
Why It Matters
On Friday, another Trump envoy, Steve Witkoff, met with Russian President Vladimir Putin in St. Petersburg to discuss an end to fighting. On the same day, the White House expressed frustration at Moscow and Kyiv over the lack of progress in peace talks.
Kellogg’s approach is at odds with Witkoff’s, according to Reuters, which said the latter previously told Trump that giving Russia ownership of four occupied Ukrainian regions would be the fastest way to achieve a ceasefire. Kellogg said Kyiv would never agree to this.
The retired lieutenant general’s proposal, which was outlined in British newspaper The Times, is the first by a senior U.S. official that uses the Dnieper River as a line of demarcation in postwar Ukraine, although Kellogg did not advocate ceding to Moscow any further territory east of the river.
What To Know
Kellogg made the X post to clarify comments he had made to The Times. The outlet reported that Kellogg proposed a force led by France and the U.K. to oversee west of the Dnieper River, which bisects Ukraine from north to south.
Kellogg said on X that he was not suggesting Ukraine be partitioned akin to a post-World War II Germany.
In a report published earlier on Friday, The Times quoted him as comparing the proposal to what had happened with Berlin after World War II, where Russian, French, American and British zones were established.
On X, Kellogg said he backed “a post-cease fire resiliency force in support of Ukraine’s sovereignty” and was not proposing any partitioning of Ukraine.
Kellogg also proposed an 18-mile demilitarized zone in eastern Ukraine along the front line, according to The Times, whose graphic showed Ukrainian forces would control most of the east of the country and Russian forces would control the territory it is occupying.
A sticking point for Kyiv would be that Kellogg’s proposal implies Russia’s de facto control over the land its forces occupy. When speaking with The Times, Kellogg acknowledged that Putin might not accept the zones of control proposal and that there would probably be ceasefire violations.
The Kremlin opposes European troops monitoring a ceasefire, but according to The Times, Kellogg said a British- and French-led force in western Ukraine would “not be provocative at all” to Russia because it would be west of the river, which is an obstacle.
Following the White House spat between Trump and Zelensky in February, Kellogg told the paper that ties between Washington and Kyiv were “back on track” and that there was progress over a proposed Ukrainian minerals deal that Washington wants to use to pay for its support.
What People Are Saying
U.S. Special Envoy for Russia and Ukraine Keith Kellogg wrote on X: “I was speaking of a post-cease fire resiliency force in support of Ukraine’s sovereignty. In discussions of partitioning, I was referencing areas or zones of responsibility for an allied force (without US troops). I was NOT referring to a partitioning of Ukraine.”
White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said in a news briefing: “[Trump] wants to see this fighting end. He wants the war to end, and we believe we have leverage in negotiating a deal.”
What Happens Next
Leavitt said on Friday that Trump had been “continually frustrated” with both sides as peace talks dragged on but believed Washington had leverage in negotiating a deal.
The same day, Trump said Russia had “to get moving” to end the war, and he renewed his push for a ceasefire, which Axios reported could include imposing additional sanctions on Moscow if a deal was not reached by the end of April.