President Trump’s special envoy to Ukraine and Russia on Friday called Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky an “embattled and courageous leader” after meetings in Kyiv, a notable shift from Trump’s recent attacks on Zelensky.
“A long and intense day with the senior leadership of Ukraine. Extensive and positive discussions with @ZelenskyyUa, the embattled and courageous leader of a nation at war and his talented national security team,” Keith Kellogg posted Thursday morning on social platform X.
Kellogg, a retired U.S. Army lieutenant general who served as a national security official in Trump’s first term, met with Zelensky to discuss the path forward as the Trump administration pushes for an end to the war in Ukraine.
Zelensky wrote on social media that the meeting “was one that restores hope, and we need strong agreements with the U.S. — agreements that will truly work.”
“With General Kellogg, we discussed the frontline situation, the need to free all our prisoners of war held in Russia, and the necessity of a clear, reliable system of security guarantees — one that ensures this war never returns and that Russia never destroys lives again,” he added in the post on X.
The positive dialogue between Kellogg and Zelensky comes as Trump has become increasingly critical of the Ukrainian leader. Trump has in recent days called the Ukrainian leader a “dictator without elections,” claimed he was doing a “terrible job” and falsely suggested Zelensky was the one who started the war with Russia.
Russia launched a full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, after amassing troops on the border and demanding a ban on Ukraine ever joining NATO. The invasion took place nearly a decade after Russia annexed Crimea from Ukraine in 2014.
Trump administration officials met with Russian officials in Saudi Arabia earlier this week to start talks about ending the war. Zelensky had expressed frustration that Ukrainian officials were not involved in the discussions.
