US President Donald Trump gathered his entire team of national security advisors and cabinet members – from Vice President J.D. Vance to Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent – in the Oval Office to discuss how to use all elements of national power to stop the Russian-Ukrainian war.
This was stated by the US President’s Special Representative for Ukraine and Russia, former General Keith Kellogg, in an interview with The New York Post.
“Resolving the Russian-Ukrainian war is really all hands on deck for the entire administration, so it’s a whole-of-government approach,” the general said. ”We’ve encouraged the national security team to talk about it – the president, the vice president, the national security adviser, the secretary of state, the head of the treasury, the head of the national security council, all working together.”
Kellogg’s direct speech – “It is indeed possible to strengthen sanctions – especially the latest sanctions (against oil production and exports – ed.). This opens up a lot of opportunities to do something. And if anyone understands the leverage, it is President Donald Trump. And you can see it in what he has recently done (in foreign policy – NYP).”
According to Kellogg, sanctions against Russia are currently at about 3 on a 10-point scale in terms of “painful economic pressure”. For example, the U.S. sanctions that have already been imposed and target Russia’s lucrative energy sector are formally twice as high. But there is still room for them to be strengthened.
US President Donald Trump is ready to double sanctions to force illegitimate Putin to end his war against Ukraine, Kellogg said.
At the same time, Keith Kellogg said that Ukraine needs to continue military pressure on Russia ahead of the talks.
Moreover, the former general criticized the strategy of the previous US president, who promised to help Ukraine “as much as it takes,” but did not take a comprehensive approach. Biden did not increase pressure on other elements.
“It’s not a strategy, it’s a bumper sticker,” Kellogg says. ”At a very high level, I said: That in fact the Biden administration did not help Ukraine as well as it should have. Ukraine did not get the right weapons or the right strategy at the right time.
“Working with President Trump. I mean, a year ago, when I was on the campaign trail with him, we were talking about demographics, casualties, and the absolute scourge of war, and I said: “This is a World War II level of violence,” says Kellogg, ”and that’s why Trump is focused on taking a holistic approach to ending the brutal fighting.”
“So the pressure can’t just be military. You’ve got to put economic pressure, you’ve got to put diplomatic pressure, some type of military pressure, and the leverage that you’re going to use underneath that to make sure that it’s going to be what we want,” Kellogg explained.
