Europe pushes back on revising its security architecture after Trump's remarks on Russia
After meeting a Russian presidential envoy, US President Donald Trump said a planned deal could cover all of Europe, not just Ukraine. European officials fear this could restore Russia's sphere of influence and weaken NATO.
US President Donald Trump said, after meeting Russian presidential envoy Kirill Dmitriev at the White House, that the coming agreement would be broad and would involve more than Ukraine. He said it might cover all of Europe but did not explain what he meant. The remarks surprised European leaders, as the war in Ukraine continues and US-mediated peace talks are under way. European diplomats fear such a settlement could restore Russia's sphere of influence and undermine NATO, the North Atlantic alliance.
Europe's response
Before travelling to talks in Abu Dhabi, US envoy Jared Kushner wrote that Europe and Russia had failed for more than 30 years to build a sustainable security framework, and said he was looking at a broader European architecture. Kaja Kallas, the EU's foreign policy chief, said European security architecture already exists, with NATO and the European Union each playing their roles, and that Ukraine must be integrated into it. Kushner later said the next round of negotiations would include European partners. After Abu Dhabi, he and Steve Witkoff met Vladimir Putin in Moscow and then Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy in Dublin.
Russian demands and expert views
At the Abu Dhabi talks, Russia wanted to discuss a broader European security framework before the specifics of the war. Cold War historian Michael Kimmage called such phrases Russian talking points and partly a propaganda effort. He argued that Russia wants to redraw borders by force, which Europe finds unacceptable. Hiski Haukkala, director of the Finnish Institute of International Affairs, warned that a major reduction of Ukraine's military would leave it very vulnerable. Balazs Jarabik, an expert on post-Soviet politics, said Russia is part of European security whether Europeans like it or not, and a way is needed to reduce the risk of escalation.
The EU has pointed to several foundational documents that Russia broke, including the UN Charter, the 1975 Helsinki Act, the Charter of Paris and the 1994 Budapest Memorandum. A spokesperson for the German government said Berlin wants to host a meeting of the "Coalition of the Willing" to secure funding for Ukraine's defense and agree a unified position on future peace talks.
