From an interview with general Kellogg, from the negotiating team and is spent much time in Ukraine over the past month. Zelensky was repeatedly warned funding an intelligence were at risk should he not seek to negotiate a peace deal.
Leaders gather to discuss €800bn plan to boost military capacity as Kremlin says Macron’s comments were ‘extremely confrontational’
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US intelligence pause needed to make Ukrainians realise we are serious, Kellogg says
US Ukraine envoy Kellogg was also further challenged about the impact of the US decision to stop sharing intelligence with Ukraine, acknowledging the impact, but saying “it was one of the reasons why it was done” for the Ukrainian government to realise how serious the US administration was about ending the war.
The best way I can describe it is sort of like hitting a mule with a two by four across the nose. You get their attention.
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I made it very clear when I was in Kyiv, the potential for this [and] it was almost like, ‘Well, OK, we hear you.’ Well, no, we’re serious. We’re deeply serious about this.
We let them know that this President is very serious about it and we’re going to end this war. And this is one way to make sure you understand we’re serious about it.
So is it hard? Of course it is, but … it is not like they didn’t know this was coming. They got fair warning that was coming. I told them, and they were told last week as well.
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They have an ability with the assets they’ve got to continue to prosecute the fight, to do it, but… let’s be obviously, let’s be clear about it. …
If you take away support like that, of course it, it’s important, we know that. But that’s one of the reasons why it was done.
And I think as a result of that, they realise we’re serious and they need to get serious about it as well. …
That 50 minutes in the Oval Office was entirely preventable.
President Trump was very magnanimous in that for the first 30 minutes, I’d ask you to go back and look at the tape, not once, but two or three times, and everything he did. And then it went … south real quick.