Slash Oil Prices, Tap Frozen Assets: Keith Kellogg’s Ideas to Undermine Russia’s War Chest

Trump’s Special Envoy to Ukraine Keith Kellogg, suggested during his interview with Fox News on January 24 that reducing global oil prices could be a strategy to increase pressure on Russia to end its war in Ukraine.

Kellogg noted that supporting Ukraine on the battlefield alone may not be enough to halt Russian aggression. He emphasized the need for additional economic measures to weaken Russia’s financial capacity to sustain its ongoing war against Ukraine.

“Russia is gaining billions of dollars from oil sales,” Kellogg said. “What if you drop that to $45 a barrel, which is basically a baseline break-even point?”

Kellogg also addressed the idea of using Russia’s frozen assets to fund the purchase of US weapons for Ukraine.

“We've talked about this repeatedly—using Russian frozen assets to do that, to buy US arms,” Kellogg said. “That is one piece of the puzzle that needs to be discussed, and it's going to be on the table with the president to talk about. But it's not the piece that is going to solve it. Still, it’s an interesting point and worth discussing.”

Previously, it was reported that US President Donald Trump tasked his special envoy to Ukraine, retired Lt. General Keith Kellogg with achieving a resolution to the ongoing war within 100 days.