The United States has asked Russia to prepare a new proposal for a future security agreement with Europe, which would also include steps by Moscow to reduce tensions on the continent, Axios reports, citing two sources familiar with the matter.
For years, Russia has sought a European security agreement that would limit NATO’s expansion and reduce the Alliance’s military presence in Eastern Europe. The US previously rejected these demands, but now appears ready to consider them in some form as part of a broader deal to end the war in Ukraine, the outlet notes.
On Thursday, special envoys of President Donald Trump Jared Kushner and Steve Witkoff will meet in Moscow with Russian President Vladimir Putin to reiterate the proposal. They also want to persuade Putin to allow European representatives to join the next round of peace talks between Russia and Ukraine, a US official said. After the meeting in Moscow, Kushner and Witkoff are expected to travel to Dublin, where they will meet Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelenskyy on Thursday evening.
The talks on Tuesday and Wednesday were the first meeting since February between Ukrainian and Russian officials with US mediators involved.
According to a source present at the meeting, the talks were tense, and the Russian delegation tried to justify the invasion by claiming there had been no response from the Joe Biden administration to Russia’s security demands in 2021. In response, the United States is urging Moscow to clearly set out its concerns and propose reciprocal de-escalation steps that could reassure Europe that Russia does not pose a threat of a renewed attack. At the same time, Putin adviser Vladimir Medinsky spoke out against Europeans taking part in talks on Ukraine, accusing certain European leaders of escalating the conflict, but supported the idea of a broader security agreement in Europe.
The Trump administration wants to negotiate an end to the war in Ukraine and a new European security architecture in parallel, although it is linking the implementation of any security arrangements to the end of the war.
European leaders, including Ursula von der Leyen, stress that substantive discussions about a future security system will only be possible after hostilities cease. Two sources said European officials who were in Abu Dhabi this week agreed to work on both tracks simultaneously. At the same time, they emphasised that final decisions on Europe’s security architecture would be taken only after the war in Ukraine ends.
The US hopes that giving European representatives a seat at the peace talks table will make their governments more willing to discuss and agree a broader security deal even before the war ends.
“Zelenskyy will not agree to a deal until he knows what comes next on security guarantees. Putin also wants to know that. That is why the security issue is so important,” a source told the outlet.
According to the source, the United States made it clear to European countries that it would not conclude a security agreement with Russia without the consent of Europe and Ukraine. Washington also will not allow Russia to gain a veto over European security decisions.
- In recent weeks, Witkoff and Kushner have met with both Putin and Zelenskyy.
- The talks in Abu Dhabi took place over two days—10 and 11 November—with Ukrainian, Russian and US delegations, as well as European representatives, taking part. The sides agreed on a prisoner-of-war exchange that could be the largest since the start of the war. US and Ukrainian officials said the exact number of prisoners to be released would be determined during meetings with Putin and Zelenskyy on Thursday.
- According to Volodymyr Zelenskyy, the US often raised the issue of Donbas during the talks and focused on Ukraine having to withdraw from its own territory in order to stop the war. The President considers such a demand unacceptable.