Kellogg effectively removed from peace negotiations, Politico claims. White House denies this

Keith Kellogg, President Donald Trump’s special envoy for Ukraine and Russia, has been significantly sidelined from negotiations over the war, based on accounts from unnamed Trump administration insiders, Politico reported on Tuesday. However, White House officials have officially rejected the claim.

"Kellogg has largely been shut out as others, including Trump’s Secretary of State Marco Rubio, national security adviser Mike Waltz and and Middle East envoy Steve Witkoff, take center stage in talks with the Ukrainians and Russians," the Politico article stated. 

It pointed to Kellogg’s absence from ongoing U.S.-Ukraine negotiations in Saudi Arabia as stark evidence of his diminished role.

Some Trump administration officials and Republican foreign policy experts informally advising the president’s team told Politico that Kellogg’s exclusion underscores his sidelining.

"Kellogg’s role is very much in question. It’s not clear why the president won’t make a final call on this. There are already too many principals, plus Witkoff, trying to play the hero on ending the war. Kellogg is limping along, adding to the confusion about who does what," one administration official told NatSec Daily.

Yet other officials pushed back.

"President Trump has utilized the talents of multiple senior administration officials to assist in bringing the war in Ukraine to a peaceful resolution. Gen. Kellogg remains a valued part of the team, especially as it relates to talks with our European allies," said James Hewitt, White House national security spokesperson.

White House spokesperson Anna Kelly added that Kellogg’s commitment is to carry out Trump’s clear directives to end the Russia-Ukraine war.

Kellogg, a retired general, crafted a plan to end the conflict back in summer 2024.

On March 7, 2025, he clarified that when Washington spoke of ending the Russia-Ukraine war in 24 hours, it wasn’t setting a specific date.