The US president-elect will begin building “personal relationships” and reach out to “key leaders,” Keith Kellogg believes
Donald Trump, the US President-elect, will endeavor to establish “personal relationships” with “key leaders” to resolve international issues, including the Ukraine conflict, according to retired Lt. Gen. Keith Kellogg, who held senior national security roles in the previous Trump administration. He believes sanctions will not be the president’s initial priority.
Kellogg made these comments to the Wall Street Journal on Saturday. The newspaper noted that he was not speaking on behalf of the Trump campaign. However, it described Kellogg as someone who might be “considered for a senior job in the new administration.”
Trump will likely avoid using more forceful options “like sanctions or brute force” initially, Kellogg suggested, indicating the president-elect would favor alternative methods.
“It all starts with personal relationships,” Kellogg stated. “President Trump will reach out to key leaders to try and find a way to work through a problem. You always have stronger options available, like sanctions or brute force, but it is not the option of first choice.”
During his first presidential term, Trump imposed more sanctions on Russia than his predecessor, Barack Obama, and also withdrew from several significant security treaties.
Throughout his election campaign, Trump repeatedly promised to end the conflict between Moscow and Kiev “within 24 hours” upon taking office. He has not provided specifics about how he intends to achieve this, and his allies have offered conflicting views on his potential approach to the Ukraine crisis.
Moscow has responded cautiously to Trump’s promises, with Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov stating last week that the claim of resolving the hostilities “overnight” was clearly a campaigning “exaggeration.”
“If the new [US] administration seeks peace rather than a continuation of the conflict, it will be better than the previous one,” Peskov added.