Keith Kellogg, special envoy to US President Donald Trump, warned that Russia’s missile strike on Ukraine’s Cabinet of Ministers building marks a dangerous escalation in the war.
“The danger in any war is escalation. Russia appears to be escalating with the largest attack of the war hitting offices of the Ukrainian Cabinet in Kyiv,” Kellogg said in a statement.
He noted that he had been inside the same building with Prime Minister Yulia Svyrydenko just two weeks earlier.
“History shows events can escalate out of control through actions such as these,” he added. “It is why President Trump is working to stop this war. The attack was not a signal that Russia wants to diplomatically end this war.”
The strike was part of Russia’s biggest aerial assault since the start of the full-scale invasion, with missiles and drones raining down on multiple Ukrainian cities overnight Sunday. At least four people were killed, according to Ukrainian officials.
Trump told reporters he was “not happy with the whole situation” and said he was prepared to move ahead with new sanctions against Moscow.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky urged a “strong” US response, warning that Russian President Vladimir Putin was “testing the world.”
Ukraine’s air force said Russia launched more than 800 drones and 13 missiles in the barrage, which set the Cabinet building ablaze for the first time in the war. Svyrydenko vowed that the government would rebuild.
Russia denied striking civilian targets, saying it had hit a defense plant and a logistics hub in Kyiv.