Talk to Europe Before Trusting Putin, Kellogg Warns Witkoff

Keith Kellogg, US President Donald Trump’s special envoy for Ukraine, has warned his colleague Steve Witkoff on Friday to consult European leaders before placing his faith in Russian leader Vladimir Putin. 

Witkoff has been visiting Russia and negotiating with Putin on Trump’s behalf. Witkoff’s pro-Russian narratives have sparked concerns and criticisms over his approach to the US’s largest adversary. 

In Friday’s interview with ABC News, Kellogg was asked about Witkoff’s statement in March that Putin “[does not want] to take all of Europe” and whether his colleague should trust Putin considering the recent maximalist demands, to which Kellogg said he would advise Witkoff to talk to European leaders. 

“When you look at Europeans… I would advise Steve [Witkoff], you know, ‘you better talk to Chancellor of Germany [Friedrich] Merz, you got the President of France, [Emmanuel] Macron, you got the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, [Keir] Starmer,’” Kellogg said. 

“They see the world a little bit differently. They live in their neighborhood, and it’s a tough neighborhood to live in. And they think they are at risk,” he added.

Witkoff became the US’s default Russia envoy after Trump dropped Russia from Kellogg’s title in March. 

During the ABC News interview, Kellogg added that he recently spoke to the Finnish ambassador and noted security concerns from Helsinki over Russia.

“And the Russians are actually building up forces on their border… Finland got the longest border with Russia, and they obviously have concerns as well,” he added. 

The Swedish news site SVT Nyheter, citing open-source satellite imagery, reported recently that Russia was setting up troop camps, building vehicle warehouses, opening and refurbishing airbases just miles from the Finnish border.

Kellogg also urged Kyiv to attend Monday’s Istanbul talks initiated by Moscow, despite it not having provided the memorandum to the US and Kyiv before the talks as agreed. 

In addition, Kellogg also ruled out Ukraine’s NATO bid and echoed Moscow’s narrative that NATO expansion was to blame for its invasion of Ukraine – despite the invasion having started in 2014 before Ukraine wished to join NATO. 

“This is a fair concern,” Kellogg said in an interview with ABC News when asked if Trump would pledge to stop NATO’s expansion.

“We’ve said many times that Ukraine’s NATO membership is not on the table.” He added that at least four [of 32] other NATO countries also share this view.

Kellogg also confirmed that security advisers from Germany, France and the United Kingdom will attend the Istanbul meeting.

These countries helped Ukraine create its 22-point proposal during earlier meetings in London and Paris. However, it’s unclear whether these European officials will directly participate in the talks.