“Remember the two negotiators working on Iran, Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner — they are also negotiators between Ukraine and Russia, and you can't be in two places at once,” Kellogg said.
“So it's good that they are working on Iran now, and I think the [Ukraine] negotiation process is effectively paused. That's not bad. It's actually good.”
He added that the United States focus on the war in Iran gives Ukraine the opportunity to fight Russia on its own terms.
“Ukraine is really holding its own against Russia,” Kellogg said.
Kellogg also said the U.S. sanctions package against Russia “is not finished yet,” suggesting Washington still has tools it can use to put more economic pressure on Moscow.
Asked about President Volodymyr Zelenskyy's recent open letter
to Russian dictator Vladimir Putin, Kellogg said he had not seen the document
but welcomed any start of direct negotiations between the two countries.