Kathrine Frich
His stance clashes directly with the White House.
When former insiders leave the room, they suddenly feel free to speak their minds.
In high-stakes politics, the sharpest pushback often comes from people who used to sit on the same side of the table.
Now, a prominent voice is breaking ranks with the White House over its latest foreign policy move.
No safe zones
Ukraine needs total freedom to hit targets inside Russia, according to retired Lieutenant General Keith Kellogg. Speaking to Bloomberg on October 12, the former envoy who represented President Donald Trump on Ukraine until late 2025 argued that Kyiv cannot let Moscow keep safe areas to launch attacks.
Pointing to his own combat history during the Vietnam War, Kellogg told Bloomberg that an army should never allow “sanctuaries” for an enemy in wartime. Because Russian forces keep pounding Ukrainian power grids, he said Kyiv must be allowed to strike back across the border wherever it sees fit.
“Let Ukrainians do what they’ve been very good at,” Kellogg told Bloomberg Television during the Warsaw Security Forum. He added that Moscow is merely dragging the conflict out rather than winning it, Uinted24 Media reported.
That stance clashes directly with the White House. Recently, Trump urged Kyiv to stop bombing Russian oil refineries, a campaign that Bloomberg noted is one of Ukraine’s best tools for cutting off the Kremlin’s war money.
Days earlier, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy told United24 Media he would only pause refinery attacks if Moscow stopped bombing Ukrainian energy sites first, demanding real guarantees instead of a one-sided halt.
Stubborn leaders clash
Despite the growing friction, Kellogg brushed off Trump’s recent suggestion that Zelenskyy should step down as mere “noise” in his Bloomberg interview.
“I think what’s happening is a couple of world leaders, I think they are basically kind of alike,” Kellogg stated to Bloomberg. “You know, they’re both kind of stubborn, they both speak their mind.”
The public spat erupted after Trump struck a deal with Russian leader Vladimir Putin to let Russian diesel flow into global markets before the November 3 US midterm elections, U24 Media noted. Still, Kellogg told Bloomberg the agreement will barely move oil prices and does not actually help the Kremlin.
“He’s trying to capitalize on elections coming up in the US, he’s trying to capitalize on President Trump right now,” Kellogg stated in the interview. “And most people see through it.”
Instead of projecting strength, Putin is acting out of weakness after losing an estimated 1.2 million to 1.5 million troops, Kellogg told Bloomberg. “The rhetoric will kind of take care of itself,” Kellogg stated. “Look at what’s happening on the ground.”
