In a recent speech on Fox News, retired General Keith Kellogg - former National Security Advisor to former US Vice President Mike Pence and now US Special Envoy to Ukraine - admitted that Russian President Vladimir Putin was "reasonable" to say NATO was conducting an authorization war with Russia via Ukraine.
President Putin believes this is a NATO war, and to be honest, to some extent, that is true. Just look at what European countries are doing to support Ukraine, and Putin clearly sees that, said the Kellogg special envoy.
The statement comes as Germany is considering providing Taurus long-range cruise missiles to Ukraine - a move that Russia has repeatedly warned of would take the conflict to a new level.
Mr. Kellogg's speech is reminiscent of President Putin's statement at the Collective Security Treaty Organization (CSTO) Summit in November 2024. At that time, Mr. Putin emphasized that: " Moscow has repeatedly warned that the supply of long-range weapons from the West that could attack Russian territory would mean the direct participation of NATO in the conflict".
The fact that the US and its NATO allies are constantly upgrading their transferred weapons - from patriot anti-aircraft missiles, Leopard tanks, to F-16 fighter jets and now the possibility of Germany supplying Taurus missiles - is making those warnings increasingly reality.
Observers say Mr. Kellogg's speech is a rare indirect confirmation from the US side of the nature of the current Russia-Ukraine conflict: not just a local conflict, but has become a proxy front line between major powers.
While the West continues to claim not to be a direct combat side, according to Mr. Kellogg, support actions in terms of weapons, training, intelligence... are making that argument difficult to maintain.
