Former US envoy Keith Kellogg said Ukraine should determine how it fights Russia, including whether to strike Russian refineries, while dismissing public tensions between US President Donald Trump and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky as rhetoric that should not be overinterpreted.
Speaking to Bloomberg Television on the sidelines of the Warsaw Security Forum, Kellogg argued that Ukraine’s military decisions should be left to Kyiv and that Russia should not be allowed to treat its fuel infrastructure as a sanctuary from attack.
JOIN US ON TELEGRAM
Follow our coverage of the war on the @Kyivpost_official.
“We should all need to step back and let Ukraine make determinations of what it’s going to do, how it’s going to attack,” Kellogg said.
He also pushed back against concerns that recent exchanges between Trump and Zelensky could signal a return to the tensions that culminated in their contentious Oval Office meeting in early 2025.
Kellogg described the two presidents as stubborn leaders who speak their minds, adding that differences in language and the nuances of translation could contribute to misunderstandings.
“I think people ought to take a step back and just assume it’s noise level, even from the President of the United States,” he said.
Kellogg says Ukraine should decide on elections
Kellogg said decisions about holding elections in Ukraine should rest with Ukrainians, not Washington or other foreign governments.
He acknowledged that democratic legitimacy was an important concern, noting that Ukraine’s presidential term is five years and that Zelensky has remained in office beyond that period. However, he also pointed out that Ukraine is under martial law, during which national elections are not held.
Other Topics of Interest
Russian Missile Strike Destroys Kharkiv Apartment Entrance, Killing 3 and Injuring 15
A rescue worker was among the wounded as crews searched the rubble and battled fires across two city districts.
“It’s up to the Ukrainian people, not the United States, nor is it for anybody else,” Kellogg said.
Kellogg says Putin has failed to achieve strategic goals
Kellogg argued that Russian President Vladimir Putin is trying to outlast Ukraine and its international supporters, betting that public fatigue after years of war will eventually weaken their resolve.
He said continued pressure on Moscow was necessary because Russia had not achieved its strategic objectives despite the territory it had seized.
Kellogg also cited estimates of between 1.2 million and 1.5 million Russian military casualties and said Russia was losing around 30,000 troops a month.
To illustrate the scale of Russia’s losses, he compared them with the Soviet Union’s experience in Afghanistan, saying the Soviet military lost around 18,000 people during that war before withdrawing.
Kellogg described Putin’s current approach as a sign of weakness rather than strength and said Western countries should continue supporting Ukraine for as long as necessary.
“We just need to keep pressure on him [Putin] and the constancy of saying, ‘You’re not winning this fight.’ We’re going to be here as long as it takes to do so and keep putting the pressure on him. I think his response right now is a response of weakness, not of strength.”
Kellogg also criticized Putin’s approach to a diesel deal with the US.
“And what he’s trying to say with the diesel deal with the United States – that’s not really a good deal. It’s not really all-encompassing out there, and it shows me his weakness, not his strength,” Kellogg said.
He added that Putin was trying to capitalize on the upcoming US elections and Trump’s presidency:
“He’s trying to capitalize on elections coming up in the United States. He’s trying to capitalize on President Trump right now, and most people see through it.”
Kellogg defends strikes on Russian refineries
Kellogg once again defended Ukraine’s attacks on Russian military targets and fuel infrastructure, rejecting the idea that such facilities should be off-limits.
He argued that allowing an adversary to maintain sanctuaries during a war could be a strategic mistake, pointing to fuel production and refineries as examples.
Kellogg said the impact on the global diesel market had been limited, adding that Ukraine had demonstrated an ability to strike targets inside Russia while Russian forces continued attacking Ukrainian cities and civilian areas.
Julia is a Deputy Head of News and correspondent for Kyiv Post who has previously worked as a parliamentary editor, journalist, and news editor. She has specialized in covering the work of the Ukrainian parliament, government, and law enforcement agencies.