US Special Envoy for Russia and Ukraine, Keith Kellogg, has spoken to Reuters about the Trump administration’s vision for Ukraine. According to Kellogg, as soon as a ceasefire is in place, Ukraine should hold elections.
“Most democratic nations have elections during wartime” Kellogg said. “I think it’s important that they do. I think it’s good for democracy. That’s the beauty of a solid democracy, that maybe more than one person runs.”
Kellogg, a 80-year-old retired US Army general, has previously served as a Trump advisor and briefly as the National Security Adviser. In November 2024, Trump appointed him as the Special Envoy for Russia and Ukraine, after Kellogg presented a peace plan to the administration in June.
In recent days, Russian President Vladimir Putin has reiterated two fundamental obstacles that make it impossible for Russia to negotiate with Ukraine: a 2022 decree that prohibits the Ukrainian government from holding talks with Russia and the fact that Ukraine’s constitution does not allow for the extension of a president’s term, as President Volodymyr Zelenskyy’s term has already expired in May.
According to the Ukrainian constitution, the only legitimate interlocutor on the Ukrainian side would be the Speaker of the Rada, the Ukrainian parliament.
The idea of holding elections after a ceasefire has not been communicated to Russia yet. When asked by Reuters, Kremlin spokesperson Dmitri Peskow replied, “We have no such information.”
Earlier, the Russian Foreign Ministry was still waiting for approval to reappoint the ambassador to Washington, in order to restore direct contacts between Washington and Moscow.
Reuters also reached out to former Western officials for their opinions on the US administration’s proposal. One of them, speaking anonymously, said that lifting the martial law in Ukraine would “allow soldiers to leave the military, trigger a capital flight and lead to a large number of able-bodied men ‘heading for the border’.”
Kellogg’s statements suggest that the Russian claims about the legitimacy of Zelenskyy’s government have been taken into account in Washington.