Trump special envoy for Ukraine Keith Kellogg to leave post

President Trump's special envoy for Ukraine, retired Army Lt. Gen. Keith Kellogg, will leave his position in January, the White House said Thursday.

No other details about the reasons for Kellogg's departure were given, The Hill news outlet reported.

The special presidential envoy position is a temporary designation unless confirmed by the Senate, as required by a 2021 law.

Kellogg was national security advisor to Mike Pence, when he was President Trump's first-term vice president, and served as executive secretary and chief of staff of the National Security Council from 2017-18.

In January, Kellogg was originally appointed as special envoy for Russia and Ukraine, and had earlier advocated conditioning U.S. military aid on the latter nation agreeing to participate in peace talks. Kellogg’s role changed to only focusing on Ukraine when Trump brought in Steve Witkoff to serve as a special envoy to Russia.

Kellogg was viewed as an advocate for Ukraine, and succeeded in getting dozens of political prisoners released from Belarus in exchange for limited sanctions relief.