Peace is Unattainable for Russia as Trump’s Designated Envoy Readies Trip to Kyiv
As retired Army Lt. Gen. Keith Kellogg, President-elect Donald Trump’s selected special envoy for Ukraine and Russia, prepares for a January trip to Kyiv and other European capitals to explore avenues to cease the conflict in Ukraine, the Kremlin is strategizing to secure a victory.
For Moscow, peace is off the table; they demand NATO’s surrender.
In a firm rejection of Kellogg’s proposal first laid out in April, Russia’s UN representative Vassily Nebenz declared last Monday, “Russia will not agree to any plans to freeze the [Ukrainian] conflict.”
Dmitry Medvedev has recently articulated what Russian President Vladimir Putin and his associates likely think: “Today, Ukraine must choose to align with Russia or risk vanishing from the world map.”
Nevertheless, Putin insists he is “ready for peace talks” with Trump at any moment. During his annual end-of-year press briefing on Thursday, he maintained, “We have consistently expressed our willingness to negotiate and find compromises.”
Yet, Putin’s conditions for peace are impractical. He remains firmly against allowing Ukraine to exist as a free and independent state.
Russia appears focused on warfare rather than peaceful discussions. As Trump gears up for his second term, the Kremlin is escalating its relentless assaults on Ukrainian defenses, civilian neighborhoods, and energy resources.
Putin’s military threats are on the rise as well. In his end-of-year address, he spotlighted the deployment of the Oreshnik hypersonic missile in Ukraine, boasting its unstoppable nature while dismissing Western doubts about its efficacy. He even challenged the U.S. and NATO to engage in a “high-tech missile competition.”
Putin wittily suggested that Washington and Brussels select a “target for destruction” in Kyiv to see if NATO could “intercept it in time.”
Drawing parallels to Nazi Germany, the Oreshnik hypersonic missile has become Putin’s modern equivalent of Adolf Hitler’s V2 rocket. Emphasizing his psychological operations against the West, Putin revealed on Monday plans for the “mass production” of the Oreshnik missiles for utilization by Russia and its allies, including Belarus, as stated by Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko.
As the conflict intensifies along the extensive 700-mile frontline in Ukraine, the situation in Pokrovsk, a crucial Ukrainian hub, is at risk of falling into Russian hands in the east, and the Ukrainian Armed Forces are increasingly strained under the weight of Moscow’s World War I-style ‘meat-grinder’ assaults.
Moreover, Putin is actively involving allies within his ‘arsenals of evil’. Pentagon spokesperson Maj. Gen. Pat Ryder has confirmed that “North Korean troops have been reported to be in combat in the Russian region of Kursk and are already experiencing casualties.”
Last month, Ryder revealed that up to 12,000 North Korean soldiers were sent to the Kursk Oblast, as part of a Russian counteroffensive estimated to include over 50,000 troops. Additionally, Pyongyang is supplying weapons as well.
A video posted on X showcases North Korean M-1989 170mm Koksan self-propelled guns being transported by rail in Russia. Reports from Defense Express indicate “at least a dozen self-propelled artillery systems are seen in the footage.”
The Koksan gun is a powerful weapon capable of firing approximately two rounds per minute, with a built-in ammunition capacity of 12 rounds. It can reach a distance of 40 kilometers with conventional high-explosive (HE) shells and up to 60 kilometers with rocket-assisted projectiles (RAP).
Putin is implementing a strategy to claim victory in this conflict. In contrast, the U.S. and NATO are still floundering for a plan. After 34 months of ‘minimal assistance to safeguard Ukraine, the Biden Administration has left the nation in a critical and worsening state.
If allowed to continue, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and his military leaders will inevitably have to cede more territory in the Donbas and areas currently under Armed Forces of Ukraine control over the course of the winter. Additionally, more Ukrainian civilians will intentionally be targeted and killed by Russian airstrikes and drones.
Trump and Kellogg must urgently alter this perilous path they are inheriting from the Biden Administration; failure to do so could negate the need for a peace agreement, leading instead to an obituary for Ukraine.
If this doesn’t change, Medvedev’s prediction could come true and Ukraine would simply disappear from the geopolitical landscape—along with any semblance of European security.
Offering peace under Putin’s stipulations is naive and would likely only lead to a broader conflict in Europe within the next five to ten years. President Joe Biden’s decision to withdraw from Afghanistan was already a significant geopolitical misstep. Losing Ukraine would be far worse—and Trump and Kellogg hold the keys to avert that catastrophe.
Col. (Ret.) Jonathan Sweet served 30 years as an Army intelligence officer. Mark Toth writes on national security and foreign policy.
