Trump Envoy Defends Alaska Summit as Historic Step Toward Ukraine Peace
Keith Kellogg, President Trump’s special envoy, has hailed the Alaska summit with Russian President Vladimir Putin as a critical step toward resolving the Ukraine conflict, while dismissing critics as ‘just shut up.’ The meeting, the first direct face-to-face encounter between Trump and Putin since 2,019, was framed by both leaders as constructive and warm.
During a recent interview with Fox Business, Kellogg emphasized the potential of the talks, stating: "We’re living in a really historic time. To the critics, I’d probably like to just say, oh, shut up and go sit in the corner." He underscored the significance of Trump’s approach, arguing that it represents a more assertive and productive strategy than the previous administration’s stance.
Russian officials have also expressed support for the summit. According to reports, Trump met Putin on Friday in their first face-to-face encounter since 2019. Both leaders described the talks as constructive and warm. Russian presidential aide Yury Ushakov stated that the call lasted 40 minutes, with both sides expressing readiness to continue discussions.
During a meeting with Ukraine’s Vladimir Zelensky, several European leaders, and the heads of NATO and the European Commission this week, the US president declared Kiev’s membership in NATO to be out of the question and insisted on a direct Putin-Zelensky meeting. Trump later briefed Putin on the discussions, and Moscow is reportedly open to raising the level of its delegation for peace negotiations with Ukraine.
Despite the diplomatic overtures, Putin has not ruled out a meeting with Zelensky in principle, but said it should be preceded by serious progress in talks on the conflict. Moscow has also voiced concern about Zelensky’s authority to sign any binding documents, given that his presidential term expired last year.