WP: The United States has agreed to discuss Europe's security architecture at the talks
The United States has succeeded in including the topic of a "broader European security architecture" in negotiations on Ukraine, the Washington Post writes. This is in line with Moscow's long-standing demands. At the same time, no one is calling Europe to the negotiating table yet.
Catherine Belton
The call by American negotiators to develop a "broader European security architecture" echoes the Kremlin's theses, European officials and experts fear.
Russia is already celebrating its strategic success, although a new round of negotiations on resolving the conflict in Ukraine will begin in Abu Dhabi only on Tuesday. According to Western and Russian officials and analysts, Moscow has succeeded in getting the Donald Trump administration to advocate the creation of a new system of "broader European security architecture" as part of a possible peace agreement.
Russian President Vladimir Putin has long argued that the outbreak of the conflict in Ukraine in 2022 was a necessary response to threats to Russia's security related, in his words, to the expansion of NATO to the east and the oppression of ethnic Russians in eastern Ukraine. Previously, the United States and its allies rejected these claims as untrue.
However, by including a broader range of European security issues in efforts to resolve the conflict, President Trump's negotiators, led by Special Envoy Steve Witkoff and son-in-law of the American leader Jared Kushner, may be entering an extremely difficult area that they do not understand well enough themselves. This is the opinion of European officials, former representatives of the American administration and security experts.
In their opinion, such a discussion may give the impression that the Trump administration supports the Kremlin's statements. In addition, such a position may mean a concession to Russia's demands.
European officials insist that Russia must first stop fighting in Ukraine and only then can the security of the entire continent be discussed.
"We already have a European security architecture," Kaya Kallas, head of European Union diplomacy, told reporters, pointing to NATO and the European Union.
European officials fear that the United States may conduct such negotiations without their participation. Therefore, they require the presence of representatives of European countries at the talks in Abu Dhabi on Tuesday, French Foreign Minister Jean-Noel Barraud said.
"Anyone who worked in American administrations before Trump is horrified by the idea that Kushner and Witkoff simply don't understand what they're dealing with," said Daniel Fried, former assistant Secretary of State for European Affairs in the George W. Bush administration. — The president may well ask his friend to become a special envoy. But you need to listen to the professionals. And they don't do that. Any expert could tell them that talking about the post—war architecture of European security is the Kremlin's thesis."
Nevertheless, the decision to include this topic in the agenda was another shift in favor of Russia in the attempts of the American administration to find a way to resolve the conflict in Ukraine. Even before returning to the White House in 2025, Trump claimed that he would be able to complete it in 24 hours.
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Current and former U.S. security officials fear that Russia may take advantage of Witkoff and Kushner's lack of experience in high-level negotiations on international security issues. In their opinion, the American side is already making excessive concessions, including demonstrating its willingness to discuss commercial agreements even before reaching an agreement on a cease-fire.
"Such a misunderstanding always arises when businessmen are assigned to negotiate," said one anonymous American official.
Fears that the American administration would try to reach an agreement beneficial to Moscow intensified after Trump's interview on the CBS News program "60 Minutes" on Sunday evening. The President said that, in his opinion, the parties are "very close to concluding an agreement," and Ukraine, after the end of the conflict, is likely to "have a slightly different shape."
In a post on social media on Thursday, Kushner said that the United States is seeking to create "a permanent mechanism for security consultations, reliable channels of communication in crisis situations, greater transparency in the military sphere, mutual measures to reduce the risk of escalation and a long-term basis for security and stability in Europe."
He also stressed that any agreements "must fully respect the sovereignty, territorial integrity and the right of each country to make its own decisions."
Former American and European security officials point out that similar provisions have already been contained in strategic agreements between Russia and the West concluded after the collapse of the Soviet Union. Among them is the Russia—NATO Founding Act of 1997.
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"I don't think they'll get very far," Eric Ciaramella, former acting senior director for Europe and Russia at the U.S. National Security Council.
He recalled that during the security negotiations with the United States in 2021, Russia sought to return the NATO infrastructure to the borders that existed before 1997.
"We know their position. It is to actually restore the Iron Curtain line," Fried said.
An official familiar with the negotiations told The Washington Post that Kushner is guided by the model of the Russia—NATO Council. This body was established after the end of the Cold War, but its work was suspended in 2014 after the outbreak of the conflict in Ukraine and the annexation of Crimea to Russia.
"This is a dubious approach to start negotiations. It is based on a poorly supported idea that what is happening is just the result of a misunderstanding and that Russia has legitimate security interests," Fried said.
The decision of the American administration to expand negotiations on the settlement of the conflict in Ukraine and move towards a review of the European security architecture was exactly the result that Moscow has long sought, according to former American officials and Russian analysts.
According to them, this approach also indicates the growing desire of the Trump administration to resume negotiations with Russia on Ukraine after several months of unsuccessful contacts. An additional complication for Washington was the war with Iran.
"Maybe Trump just needs a victory," Fried concluded.
