U.S. Envoy: Zelensky to Blame for American Aid Pause

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Keith Kellogg also acknowledged the damage Russia has done to Ukraine

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and U.S. President Donald Trump’s special envoy, General Keith Kellogg, meet in Kyiv, Ukraine, on February 20, 2025. (Photo by Maxym Marusenko/NurPhoto via Getty Images)

Posted: March 6th, 2025

By Tom Nagorski

Tom Nagorski is the Managing Editor for The Cipher Brief. He previously served as Global Editor for Grid and served as ABC News Managing Editor for International Coverage as well as Senior Broadcast Producer for World News Tonight.

DEEP DIVE — The Trump administration envoy for Ukraine and Russia blamed Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky Thursday for the U.S. pauses in military aid and intelligence sharing with Ukraine.

The Ukrainians “brought it on themselves,“ Ret. Lt. Gen. Keith Kellogg told a Council on Foreign Relations symposium, referring to Zelensky’s confrontation with Trump at the White House last week. Speaking of the February 28 encounter, Kellogg said “that 50 minutes in the Oval Office was entirely preventable,” and he claimed that Zelensky had been “forewarned” that the meeting was not the place for a public discussion about the war. “Some people misread the room,“ Kellogg said.

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