WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. —  President-elect Donald Trump said Wednesday that he will nominate retired Lt. Gen. Keith Kellogg to serve as assistant to the president and special envoy for Ukraine and Russia.

Kellogg, a retired Army lieutenant general who has long been Trump’s top advisor on defense issues, served as national security advisor to former Vice President Mike Pence.

Trump made the announcement on his Truth Social account, and said of Kellogg: “He was with me right from the beginning! Together, we will secure PEACE THROUGH STRENGTH, and Make America, and the World, SAFE AGAIN!”

Kellogg’s nomination comes as Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, which started in February 2022, nears the three-year mark.

Trump has criticized the billions of dollars that the Biden administration has poured into Ukraine. Washington has recently stepped up weapons shipments and has forgiven billions in loans provided to the government in Kyiv. The Republican president-elect, who has called Russian President Vladimir Putin a “genius,” has claimed he could end the war in 24 hours, comments that appear to suggest he would press Ukraine to surrender its territory that Russia now occupies.

For the America First Policy Institute, one of several groups formed after Trump left office to help lay the groundwork for the next Republican administration, Kellogg in April wrote that “bringing the Russia-Ukraine war to a close will require strong, America First leadership to deliver a peace deal and immediately end the hostilities between the two warring parties.”

Hussein writes for the Associated Press. Times staff contributed to this report.