US 'behind' Ukraine in drone technology, Trump envoy Kellogg says
Ukraine has become the world leader in drone technology, surpassing the United States, U.S. Envoy Keith Kellogg said at the Yalta European Strategy conference in Kyiv on Sept. 13.
Kellogg, U.S. President Donald Trump's Special Envoy for Ukraine, arrived in Kyiv for an official visit on Sept. 11.
"Ukraine seems now to be a world leader in defense technology. It's, in itself, a pretty good argument for making it a member of the European Union," he said.
Drone technology has changed the nature of warfare, Kellogg said. Comparing Ukraine's advancements in drone development to the U.S., he said the U.S. is "well behind."
"I think we in the United States are behind ... I think a lot of nations are behind, and I think to the credit of the Ukrainians, they picked up on that, and they're the world leaders in it. We are fast running out of time."
Kellogg also said it was important for the U.S. to partner with Ukraine on exchanging drone technology.
Since the start of Russia's full-scale invasion in 2022, Kyiv has expanded drone production across all domains — air, land, and sea — with plans to manufacture 30,000 long-range drones in 2025.
In July, President Volodymyr Zelensky announced that he'd reached a deal with Trump on the sale of Ukrainian drones to the U.S. Zelensky estimated the potential contract would be worth $10 billion and $30 billion.
Ukraine also signed a major deal with U.S. company Swift Beat to co-produce hundreds of thousands of drones this year.
Kellogg also remarked on the progress of Russia's full-scale invasion, saying Moscow's modest territorial gains in eastern Ukraine were a far cry from battlefield victory.
"Russia is, in fact, losing this war," he said.
"Now, they may make movements and say, well, they're advancing in the Donbas region and Donetsk. But if you consider advancing moving by meters, not miles, well then, okay, that's successful. But the cost they're having, it's enormous. And I don't think people truly appreciate it."
Russia is overly reliant on support from China, Kellogg said, describing Russia as the "junior partner in their alliance.
"I think that if China cut off their support for Russia today, the war would be over tomorrow," he said.
Kellogg previously visited Kyiv on Aug. 24 on the occasion of Ukraine's 34th Independence Day. The retired general is one of Trump's top aides in the effort to negotiate a peace deal between Russia and Ukraine and has been in close contact with top Ukrainian officials.
Speaking at the YES conference a day earlier, Zelensky credited Kellogg with helping to shield Kyiv from Russian aerial attacks.
"Every time you are here, General, we can sleep a little more. We would like you to travel to all Ukrainian cities," Zelensky said.
