Trump's Ukraine Envoy Declares Russia Is 'Losing' The War As He Rips Into Putin's Army

Keith Kellogg, the US Special Envoy for Ukraine and RussiaVladimir Putin is losing his war in Ukraine, according to Donald Trump’s special envoy to Ukraine.Amid wider efforts to push Russia into a peace deal, the US administration has – for the most part – avoided criticising Moscow.The White House has repeatedly supported ending the war on terms more favourable to Putin, suggesting Ukraine would have to give up occupied territory to Russia if it wanted the conflict to conclude.Last year before his election, Trump even said Ukraine’s people are “dead” and the country itself is “demolished”.In March, the US president said Russia was absolutely “pounding” Ukraine on the battlefield, and in August, he invited Putin to Alaska for a summit where he echoed a Kremlin talking point – that the “root causes” of the conflict had to be resolved before any peace deal.But during the 21st Yalta European Strategy Annual Meeting in Kyiv, Trump’s envoy Keith Kellogg claimed Putin is not in such a strong position after all.“If he was winning, he’d be in Kyiv,” Kellogg said. “If he was winning, he’d be west of the Dnipro River. If he was winning, he’d be in Odesa. If he was winning, he would have changed the government.“Russia is, in fact, losing this war. Now they may make movements and say, ‘well, they’re advancing in the Donbas region and the Donetsk’.“But if you consider advancing moving by metres, not miles, well, then, okay, that’s successful.“But at the cost they’re having, it’s enormous. And I don’t think people truly appreciate it.”Kellogg also revealed that Trump asked him about six weeks ago if Russia was winning, and that both he and the chairman of the Joint Chiefs, Dan Kaine, believe Moscow is not.The envoy then claimed the US would win in a battle against Russian military, adding: “We’d kick their ass.”He said: “They’re not as good as Putin says they are. And I give great credit to the Ukrainian military because they’ve taken them down a couple of notches.”Kellogg added: “I don’t think anybody should be afraid of the Russian military... But I don’t believe they’ve got the capacity that they can march towards Berlin or anywhere else.”The envoy went on to claim Russia “cannot survive without Beijing’s support”, and suggested the 10,000 North Korean troops backing up Moscow’s forces suggest Putin is not doing well.“Ukraine’s not going to lose this war,” he claimed, saying it has a “shape-shifting quality” especially with its drone abilities. US envoy Keith Kellogg:If Putin was winning, he'd be in Kyiv. If he was winning, he'd be west of the Dnieper River. If he was winning, he'd be on Odesa.If he was winning, he would have changed the government. Russia is, in fact, losing this war. Now, they may make movements… pic.twitter.com/Qu3Lv6loSi— Anton Gerashchenko (@Gerashchenko_en) September 15, 2025His remarks suggest the US administration could – finally – be pivoting away from Moscow, especially after Trump finally admitted that Russia is the “aggressor”.He told reporters on Sunday: “8,000 soldiers have died this week, from both countries. Some more from Russia, but when you’re the aggressor, you lose more.”He also said he was “ready” to impose secondary sanctions on Russia – but notably added that he would only do so if all Nato nations stop buying its oil.He said while European countries are his “friends”, they are still “buying oil from Russia”.He added: “I don’t want them to buy oil. And the sanctions that they are putting on are not tough enough.”Still, up until now, the US administration has pretty much refused to condemn Putin for the February 2022 invasion, instead falsely blaming Kyiv.Only last week, Trump told reporters in the White House: “Listen, when you start a war, you gotta know you can win a war.“You don’t start a war against somebody that’s 20 times your size and then hope that people give you some missiles.”His administration also sided with Russia twice in February over a UN resolution on Ukraine, refusing to condemn Moscow over its military actions. Related...Donald Trump Just Repeated His Favourite Piece Of Kremlin Propaganda About The Ukraine WarFormer British Armed Forces Chief Reveals Why The Ukraine War Has Been A 'Disaster' For RussiaTrump Is Confident He Will End Ukraine War As Putin Seems Unmoved

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