Donald Trump has appeared to limit the remit of the envoy who was supposed to spearhead his campaign for peace between Ukraine and Russia. 

Retired general Keith Kellogg was originally US envoy to Russia and Ukraine, but now his remit covers only the Ukrainian side of things, Trump appeared to confirm in a social media post. 

The US president said Kellogg will now only deal “directly” with Volodymyr Zelenskyy – amid reports that the Kremlin told Washington it did not want him involved in discussions with Russia at all.

Under his initial title, he should have headed, or at least have been heavily involved in, recent peace summits in Saudi Arabia between the US and Russia. 

But it now appears Kellogg will not engage with the Russian side at all. 

The retired general was excluded from high-level talks on ending the war after the Kremlin said it didn’t want him there.

Vladimir Putin thought he was too pro-Ukraine, a senior Russian official with direct knowledge of the Kremlin’s thinking told NBC News. 

“Kellogg is a former American general, too close to Ukraine. Not our kind of person, not of the calibre we are looking for,” the official said. 

Vance would be ‘shocked’ if Trump wanted nukes in eastern Europe

JD Vance has said he would be “shocked” if Donald Trump were to allow nuclear weapons to be deployed in eastern Europe. 

Poland’s President Andrzej Duda on Thursday called on the US to deploy warheads to Poland as a deterrent to Russia.

“I haven’t talked to the president about that particular issue, but I would be shocked if he was supportive of nuclear weapons extending further east into Europe,” Vance said today.

“We are playing literally with the lives of the future of human civilization,” he added.