Trump did not pressure Zelenskyy to give up Donbas, Kellogg says
Photo: Keith Kellogg, former US Special Envoy for Ukraine (Getty Images)
Russian leader Vladimir Putin miscalculated when he tried to secure the occupation of the entire Donetsk region through political maneuvering, Keith Kellogg, Trump’s former special envoy, said to journalist Natalia Moseichuk.
What Trump told Putin
Kellogg revealed whether Trump had demanded that Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy hand over the entire Donbas region to Russia.
According to Kellogg, Putin had hoped that US President Donald Trump would force Zelenskyy to do so, but Trump did not take that step.
Kellogg said Trump had not personally pressured Zelenskyy to voluntarily surrender either Donbas or the Donetsk region, adding that this had apparently become clear during the Alaska summit. Instead, Trump’s message was that if Russia wanted the territory, it would have to fight for it.
Kellogg also said that Trump and Putin have a long-standing personal relationship. According to him, the US president has already exhausted all available diplomatic tools in an effort to end Russia’s war against Ukraine.
RBC-Ukraine previously reported that Kellogg believed in 2025 that the war would end within a year, although that prediction did not come true.
It was also reported that, according to Kellogg, relations between US President Donald Trump and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy have improved.
In addition, after Kellogg commented on the possible mobilization of women, Ukraine’s Center for Countering Disinformation stressed that forced mobilization of women is neither taking place nor planned in the country.
