U.S. President Donald Trump is ready to double sanctions to force Russia to stop the war against Ukraine, his special representative for Ukraine and Russia, Keith Kellogg, said, according to The New York Post.
According to Kellogg, the sanctions against Russia are currently at approximately a 3 out of 10 on the “painfulness of economic pressure” scale. He noted that the sanctions themselves—for example, those targeting Russia’s profitable energy sector—are formally twice as high, but there is still room for strengthening them.”
It is indeed possible to strengthen the sanctions—especially the latest sanctions. This opens up wide opportunities to do something. And if anyone understands the levers of influence, it is President Donald Trump, and you can see this in what he has recently done (in addressing other foreign issues—NYP).”
Kellogg said that last Thursday, Trump gathered in the Oval Office “the entire confirmed team” of advisors and cabinet members dealing with national security issues—from Vice President J.D. Vance to Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent—and they discussed how to use all elements of national power to end the war.”
The resolution of the Russian-Ukrainian war is the responsibility of the entire administration, meaning it is a whole-of-government approach. We have a national security team that discusses this issue—the president, the vice president, the national security advisor, and the secretaries of state and the treasury, the National Security Council, who work together,” Kellogg said.
He added that Ukraine will need to continue military pressure on Russia until negotiations begin, and he criticised the strategy of former President Joe Biden, who promised to provide Ukraine with “as much help as needed” without increasing pressure on other elements of national power.”
This is not a strategy; it’s a bumper sticker,” Kellogg said, assuring that Trump acts differently. According to him, Trump is focused on applying a “holistic approach” to ending the brutal fighting.Kellogg also mentioned that although the U.S. president discussed the possibility of reaching an agreement with Ukraine this week to supply weapons in exchange for its natural resources, he still “wants to stop the killings first—just stop them—and then move on” regarding future negotiations.
According to him, Russia is not interested in preventing mass casualties among its own troops, which is why it is important to stop the violence before discussing the details of a peaceful settlement.”
For Russia, this is a fundamental aspect of military operations—in essence, you are fighting until the very end.” According to history, the Russians fight by attrition, so you should avoid it. The Russians are accustomed to such tactics. I mean, this is a country that was willing to lose—and lost—700,000 in the Battle of Stalingrad over six months, and they didn’t even blink,” Kellogg said.He emphasised that this is precisely why pressure cannot be solely military.”
We need to exert economic pressure, exert diplomatic pressure, a certain kind of military pressure, and other levers that you are going to use to make sure that (it goes—NYP) where we want it to go,” explained Trump’s special envoy.At the same time, he reiterated that the war will not end without negotiations between Russia and Ukraine.