In a startling intervention, Donald Trump‘s envoy to the Ukraine has declared that Russia‘s long-standing gripes over NATO expansion are fair.
Asked by ABC News about a Reuters report that Russia wanted a written pledge over NATO not enlarging eastwards to include Ukraine and other former Soviet republics, retired Keith Kellogg said: ‘It’s a fair concern.’
‘We’ve said that to us, Ukraine coming into NATO is not on the table, and we’re not the only country that says that’. The comment is likely to spark debate, especially among European allies deeply rattled by Moscow‘s aggression.
Kellogg also claimed that ‘four other countries’ within NATO also oppose Ukraine’s membership, a pointed reference to the alliance’s strict rule requiring unanimous approval from all 32 member nations before admitting a new country.
The scope of Russia’s anxiety doesn’t end with Ukraine. ‘They’re not just talking Ukraine, they’re talking the country of Georgia, they’re talking Moldova,’ Kellogg said.
The key Trump confidant and former National Security Adviser added the future of NATO enlargement ultimately rests with Trump.
Amid an ongoing diplomatic push to end the bloodshed, Kellogg confirmed that the US is preparing to sit down for peace talks in Istanbul next week, alongside advisers from Germany, France, and the UK.
The plan is to merge separate the two memorandums drafted by Ukraine and Russia into a single document.
Keith Kellogg, pictured right, a key Trump confidant and former National Security Adviser, added the future of NATO enlargement ultimately rests with Trump
Vladimir Putin (pictured) will invade a NATO country if he succeeds in Ukraine, it has been warned
US Special Envoy to Ukraine and Russia Keith Kellogg shakes hands with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, amid Russia’s attack on Ukraine, in Kyiv, Ukraine, February 20, 2025
‘When we get into Istanbul next week we’ll sit down and talk,’ Kellogg confirmed, setting the stage for the high-stakes negotiations.
Kellogg said Trump was ‘frustrated’ with Russia because he had seen ‘a level of unreasonableness’ from Russian President Vladimir Putin.
He scolded Russia for striking Ukrainian cities and said he had told Ukraine to turn up to talks.
A conservative estimate of dead and injured in the Ukraine war – from both sides combined – totals 1.2 million, Kellogg said.
‘That is a stunning number – this is war on an industrial scale,’ Kellogg told ABC.
It comes as David Petraeus, a respected former US general and CIA chief, warned that Putin will invade a NATO country if he succeeds in Ukraine.
He said Russia could launch an incursion into that Baltic state to test Western resolve or as a precursor to a wider offensive.
Mr Petraeus, who headed the CIA after a stellar military career, also criticised US President Donald Trump for repeatedly granting second chances to Putin and took aim at predecessor Joe Biden for failures to adequately arm Ukrainian forces.
David Petraeus (pictured), a respected former US general and CIA chief, claimed Lithuania would be most at risk
The CIA chief who led tens of thousands of US, British and other nationality troops in both Iraq and Afghanistan, also called on the UK to withdraw from international accords forbidding the use of cluster munitions on the battlefield.
He said that these weapons could prove an essential deterrent.
Mr Petraeus stated that Russia’s aim was to topple president Volodymyr Zelensky in order to ‘install a puppet leader and to control all of Ukraine’.
He added: ‘Once that’s done, you are going to see them focus on one of the Baltic states.
‘Lithuania has featured prominently in his speeches and we should have listened a lot more.’
