U.S. President Donald Trump’s special envoy to Ukraine and Russia, retired Lt. Gen. Keith Kellogg, arrived in Kyiv on Monday (July 14, 2025), a senior Ukrainian official said, as anticipation grew over a possible shift in the Trump administration’s policy on the more than three-year war.
Mr. Trump last week teased that he would make a “major statement” on Russia on Monday (July 14, 2025). Mr. Trump made quickly stopping the war one of his diplomatic priorities, and he has increasingly expressed frustration about Russian President Vladimir Putin’s unbudging stance on U.S-led peace efforts.
Mr. Putin “talks nice and then he bombs everybody,” Mr. Trump said late on Sunday (July 13, 2025), as he confirmed the U.S. is sending Ukraine badly needed U.S.-made Patriot air defence missiles to help it fend off Russia’s intensifying aerial attacks.
Russia has spread terror in Ukrainian cities, including the capital, Kyiv, with hundreds of drones and cruise and ballistic missiles that Ukraine’s air defences are struggling to counter. June brought the highest monthly civilian casualties of the past three years, with 232 people killed and 1,343 wounded, the U.N. human rights mission in Ukraine said on Thursday (July 10, 2025). Russia launched 10 times more drones and missiles in June than in the same month last year, it said.
That has happened at the same time as Russia’s bigger army is making a new effort to drive back Ukrainian defenders on parts of the 1,000-km (620-mile) front line.
A top ally of Mr. Trump, Republican Sen. Lindsey Graham of South Carolina, said on Sunday (July 13, 2025) that the conflict is nearing an inflection point as Mr. Trump shows growing interest in helping Ukraine fight back against Russia’s full-scale invasion. It’s a cause that Mr. Trump had previously dismissed as being a waste of U.S. taxpayer money.
Also Read: War and talks | On Russia and Ukraine
“In the coming days, you’ll see weapons flowing at a record level to help Ukraine defend themselves,” Mr. Graham said on CBS’ “Face the Nation.” He added, “One of the biggest miscalculations (Russian President Vladimir) Mr. Putin has made is to play Mr. Trump. And you just watch, in the coming days and weeks, there’s going to be a massive effort to get Mr. Putin to the table.”
Also, NATO Secretary-General Mark Rutte was due in Washington on Monday (July 14, 2025) and Tuesday (July 15, 2025). He planned to hold talks with Mr. Trump, Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth, as well as members of Congress.
Talks during Mr. Kellogg’s visit to Kyiv will cover “defence, strengthening security, weapons, sanctions, protection of our people and enhancing cooperation between Ukraine and the United States,” said the head of Ukraine’s presidential office, Andrii Yermak.
“Russia does not want a cease fire. Peace through strength is President Donald Trump’s principle, and we support this approach,” Mr. Yermak said.
Russian troops conducted a combined aerial strike at Shostka, in the northern Sumy region of Ukraine, using glide bombs and drones early Monday (July 14, 2025) morning, killing two people, the regional prosecutor’s office said. Four others were injured, including a 7-year-old, it said.
Overnight from Sunday (July 13, 2025) to Monday (July 14, 2025), Russia fired four S-300/400 missiles and 136 Shahed and decoy drones at Ukraine, the air force said. It said that 61 drones were intercepted and 47 more were either jammed or lost from radars mid-flight.
The Russian Defence Ministry, meanwhile, said its air defences downed 11 Ukrainian drones over Russian regions on the border with Ukraine, as well as over the annexed Crimea and the Black Sea.
Published – July 14, 2025 02:24 pm IST
