The US is reshaping foreign policy

Published 30 November 2024 at 13.58

Foreign. Now Donald Trump has finally announced his strategy for ending the war in Ukraine – by appointing his former national security adviser Keith Kellogg as special envoy for Ukraine and Russia. The appointment represents a decisive change of course in US foreign policy, CNN writes.

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“I am very pleased to nominate General Keith Kellogg to the role of adviser and special envoy for Ukraine and Russia.”, Trump writes on Truth Social.

“Together we will ensure peace through strength and make America and the world safe again!”

Through the role of special envoy for Ukraine and Russia, Keith Kellogg takes on a role similar to that of the influential top US diplomat Victoria Nuland in Barack Obama's administration, where she is considered to have been one of the architects behind the war in Ukraine.

However, Kellogg, who previously worked closely with Trump in his first administration, has ambitions other than war. He has already presented a concrete peace plan in a report for the conservative think tank America First Policy Institute and that plan involves a quick ceasefire, frozen front lines and new negotiations with Russia.

Keith Kellogg describes the war as a “crisis which could have been avoided” and accuses the Biden administration of providing insufficient support to Ukraine at the start of the war. But now, in short, he wants the front lines to be frozen through a truce and for negotiations to begin between the parties.

In order to bring Russia to the negotiating table, sanctions relief is proposed, but only in exchange for a “comprehensive and verifiable” peace agreement. At the same time, Ukraine must receive continued support from the United States, but only to the extent that the country can defend itself and prevent further Russian advances.

There is also a crucial catch: Ukraine must give up its ambitions for NATO membership on indefinite period – a central part of Russia's demands.

Furthermore, the country must only try to get back its Russian-occupied territories through diplomacy, and not by military means.

Freezing the front lines would not be straightforward, but it is doable. A demilitarized zone along the front would require a huge international presence – perhaps with NATO troops – which could be both costly and difficult to implement. But American experts agree that it is possible.

Two central points in Kellogg's plan stand out. First, he rejects the Biden administration's focus on defending “Western values, human rights and democracy”.

Instead, he proposes a more pragmatic stance in which America's own strategic interests are put first.

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Secondly, he worries that US involvement in Ukraine undermines the country's preparedness in other potential conflicts, for example with China.

For Ukraine, the plan means an opportunity to end the violence, but at a high price. Relying on diplomacy to reclaim occupied territories is unlikely to yield results as long as Vladimir Putin remains in power.