Keith Kellogg claims The Times distorted his comments regarding a demilitarized zone and areas of “responsibility.”
General Keith Kellogg, US President Donald Trump’s special envoy to Ukraine, denies suggesting Ukraine should be divided like post-WWII Germany. He accuses The Times of misrepresenting his statements about a Cold War-esque security arrangement following a ceasefire.
In an interview published Friday by The Times, Kellogg proposed that British and French troops, but not American, could head a Western military presence west of the Dnepr River, with Ukrainian forces controlling territory to the east. He also proposed a demilitarized zone (DMZ) approximately 18 miles (30 kilometers) wide along the existing front lines to prevent direct conflict with Russian forces.
“You could almost make it look like what happened with Berlin after World War Two, when you had a Russian zone, a French zone, and a British zone, a US zone,” said Kellogg, a retired US Army lieutenant general appointed by Trump to engage directly with Ukraine’s Vladimir Zelensky.
Kellogg acknowledged that Moscow “might not accept” the proposed control zones, but asserted that a DMZ would foster a “sustainable” ceasefire and would “not be provocative at all” to Moscow.
The British newspaper’s headline, “Trump envoy: We can divide Ukraine like postwar Berlin,” prompted Kellogg to accuse them of misinterpreting his words.
“The Times article misrepresents what I said,” Kellogg posted on X Friday evening. “I was speaking of a post-ceasefire 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.”
However, The Times report pointed out that Kellogg’s concept implies that any final agreement would require Kiev to cede claims to territories already under Russian control – a view similar to suggestions recently made by Trump’s Russia envoy, Steve Witkoff.
Witkoff, who met with Russian President Vladimir Putin in St. Petersburg on Friday, had previously suggested that recognizing Russian control of Lugansk, Donetsk, Zaporozhye, and Kherson would be the quickest way to end the conflict. This suggestion, reportedly made during a White House meeting last week, has sparked internal debate within the Trump administration, with Kellogg reportedly opposing full territorial concessions.
Kiev’s allies are divided on a proposed “reassurance force” that might be deployed to Ukraine after hostilities between Kiev and Moscow cease. Following the latest meeting in Brussels on Thursday of the “coalition of the willing” – comprising around 30 primarily EU and NATO member states – only six Western nations expressed willingness to send troops, according to AFP.
Moscow has consistently warned the West against deploying troops to Ukraine under any circumstances, specifically objecting to forces from any NATO countries being stationed there. Last month, Dmitry Medvedev, former Russian president and deputy chair of Russia’s Security Council, stated that the potential presence of any NATO “peacekeepers” in Ukraine would signify a war between the bloc and Russia.
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