Trump relies on Kellogg: what the European media write about the new US special representative

Donald Trump’s appointment of 80-year-old retired general Keith Kellogg as the US special representative for Ukraine and Russia has caused quite a stir both in the United States and in Europe. The mass media of many countries are actively analyzing Donald Trump’s recent decision to involve retired general Keith Kellogg, known for his radical approaches to international politics, in this role. At the center of the discussion is Kellogg’s ambitious plan to end the war between Russia and Ukraine, as well as the likely impact of his policies on the European security order.

European publications emphasize that this step by Trump can be a turning point in international relations. The appointment of the general, who previously held the position of national security adviser in the White House, shows the desire of the new US leadership to strengthen Washington’s role in solving key global conflicts. At the same time, a lot of attention is paid to Kellogg’s plan, which he presented this spring. His main idea is to create conditions for negotiations between Kyiv and Moscow under pressure from the US. European analysts emphasize that the implementation of this plan can significantly change the balance of power in the region and cause mixed reactions among allies of the United States.

El Mundo – Spain. Madrid’s El Mundo is skeptical:

“Keith Kellogg plans to turn off the faucet to Kiev and put Moscow on a short leash by threatening to open this faucet again. … Donald Trump’s real policy reminds us of Korea, divided by the neutral strip, through which the North and South Korean military watch each other through binoculars , as if the year 1960 is still standing in the yard. 

…This plan means abandoning the idea of ​​a just world: the front line is cemented – Russia would then acquire 20 percent of [Ukrainian] territory – and Putin would not have to pay for his war crimes.

… The plan, which looks like a kind of extreme forced measure – before the next Russian aggression. And it can tear Europe apart.”

Tvnet – Latvia. The TVnet portal sees a weak spot in Kellogg’s plan:

“Kellogg’s idea that the United States should take a tough position and show Russia who is the boss is not bad in itself. However, it seems that there are not enough levers that could convince both the aggressor state and Ukraine of this. After all, there is no reason to assume that the US will really increase military supplies to Kyiv many times over if Russia does not show readiness to sit down at the negotiating table or violates the terms of the truce – and then the bowl the scales will finally tilt in favor of Ukraine. But if all this is possible, why hasn’t it been done a long time ago?”

Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung – Germany. The Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung warns:

“[Kellogg] back in the spring presented a plan for a quick end to the war in Ukraine, which would result in a truce, in which Ukraine would not regain all its territories, and would have to abandon its desire to join NATO for a long time.

… In any case, this would be a break with the current policy of the West, in which the bet is on weakening Russia, but this goal has not yet been sufficiently achieved. It is hard to imagine that Europeans will be able to fundamentally resist such a change of course. They still have not managed to support Ukraine on their own, and they themselves, as before, depend on the protection of the United States.”

At the same time, political scientist Serhii Taran welcomes this choice on his Facebook page:

“Compared to Trump’s other personnel decisions, the appointment of retired general Keith Kellogg to the post of special representative for Ukraine and Russia is one of the best. First of all, because he is a representative of the classical school of American security science. And the experience of working with the previous vice president Pence and, even more, the experience of participating in the Vietnam War, indicates that the general has no illusions about how the world really works.”