WASHINGTON — The President-elect announced on Wednesday that he had chosen longtime advisor and highly decorated retired three-star general Keith Kellogg to serve in the role.

Posting on Truth Social, his social media platform, President-elect Donald Trump announced that he will nominate Keith Kellog, who has long been his advisor on matters of defense, to serve as assistant to the president and special envoy for Ukraine and Russia.

In his social media post, Trump said “He was with me right from the beginning! Together, we will secure PEACE THROUGH STRENGTH, and Make America, and the World, SAFE AGAIN!"

During Trump's first term in office, the now 80-year-old Kellogg had served as National Security Advisor to then Vice President Mike Pence. He was also chief of staff of the National Security Council before becoming acting security advisor to the president after Michael Flynn's resignation.

In his new role as envoy to Ukraine and Russia, Kellogg will need to manage an increasingly volatile conflict between the two countries which has escalated further in recent weeks.

The Biden administration has provided more than $56bn in security assistance to Ukraine since Russia's invastion in early 2022, and is expected to send billions more before the incoming Trump administration begins its term in January. It has also begun urging Ukraine to rapidly increase the size of its military by drafting more soldiersand changing its mobilisation laws to allow for the conscription of troops as young as 18.

Trump has criticised Joe Biden's support for Ukraine, and has previously said that he could end the war in 24 hours, comments which suggest he might be willing to press Ukraine to concede territory currently occupied by Russia.

Kellogg is one of the architects of a staunchly conservative policy book which outlines an “America First” national security agenda for Donald Trump's second term in office.

In April this year, Kellogg wrote that “bringing the Russia-Ukraine war to a close will require strong, America First leadership to deliver a peace deal and immediately end the hostilities between the two warring parties.” His views on the issue were part of several chapters in the policy book for the American First Policy Institute’s Center for American Securitym, where he is co-chairman.

His nomination comes as Russia's invasion of Ukraine enters its third year in February. — Euronews