According to Keith Kellogg, diplomatically isolating Moscow is no longer a feasible strategy.
Keith Kellogg, US President Donald Trump’s special envoy, stated that Trump intends to “reset relations with Russia” and withdraw from what he considers an “endless proxy war” in Ukraine.
During a speech at the Council on Foreign Relations on Thursday, Kellog asserted that Trump’s approach is defined by “the need to reset relations with Russia, to secure Americans’ vital national interests and ultimately to stop US entanglement in an endless proxy war.”
The envoy further stated that “the continued isolation” of Russia “is no longer a viable or a sustainable strategy and is certainly not a responsible approach diplomatically.”
Kellog indicated that Trump plans to use “sticks and carrots on both sides” to encourage negotiations between Kiev and Moscow. He mentioned that the administration will “aggressively” employ leverage, such as “the seizing of frozen Russian sovereign assets to rebuild and rearm Ukraine.”
Trump reportedly suspended billions of dollars in US military aid to Ukraine this week, aiming to compel Kiev to reconsider its stance towards negotiations.
Following what was described as a disastrous meeting in Washington with Zelensky last week, Trump accused the Ukrainian leader of seeking US support for a prolonged conflict with Russia, instead of pursuing peace.
US Secretary of State Marco Rubio claimed on Wednesday that Zelensky has been “sabotaging and undermining” Washington’s efforts. The top diplomat stated, “It’s a proxy war between nuclear powers – the United States, helping Ukraine, and Russia – and it needs to come to an end.”
Relations between Russia and the US appear to be improving. High-level discussions in Riyadh last month represented the first diplomatic interaction between the superpowers since Washington ceased contact in 2022, following the escalation of the conflict in Ukraine.
In 2009, then-US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton also famously attempted to reset US-Russia relations. This initiative is perhaps best remembered by Washington’s use of the Russian word for ‘overload’ (instead of ‘reset’) on a symbolic red button she presented to Russian foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov, leading to its failure.