Kellogg Outlines Potential Strategy to Pressure Russia

In the process of negotiations, Russia must abandon certain territorial claims and its use of force in the future. Additionally, stronger sanctions could be imposed, and steps might be taken to sever its alliances with other countries.

Keith Kellogg, U.S. Special Envoy for Ukraine and Russia, said this during the Munich Security Conference on Saturday, according to Ukrinform.

“To me, there have to be things like territorial concessions,” Kellogg said when asked about what concessions Russia should make. He said some of these are entirely realistic but did not specify the details.

He also suggested that this could include a commitment from Russia to refrain from using force in the future.

Kellogg also noted that the United States will work to sever Russia’s alliances with North Korea, Iran, and China, which, according to him, did not exist four years ago during the first Trump administration.

He said that tightening sanctions against Russia could significantly affect its behavior.

“What is driving Russia? It’s really a petrol state -- 70% of the money they are getting to fund this war comes out of petrol, oil, and gas. Most of that is going through the shadow fleet and 70% of this shadow fleet goes through the Baltics,” Kellogg said.

He stressed that, at present, the level of sanctions on Russia stands at six on a ten-point scale, while enforcement is about at level three. Kellogg highlighted that sanctions “break the economic backbone,” and the United States has done something similar before, particularly with Iran.

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He also underscored the importance of NATO unity and increasing member countries’ defense contributions to more than 2%.