European nations want Russia to halt its war against Ukraine before entertaining any talk of the Kremlin's concerns about the continent's broader security architecture, people familiar with the matter said, a stance that risks putting them at odds with the US over the best way to end the conflict.
European officials are also adamant that Russian President Vladimir Putin's pre-war demands that would effectively roll back NATO's presence in Eastern Europe are still unacceptable, said the people, who asked not to be identified to discuss private deliberations.
-
Indian Markets Turning Corner After Two Tough Years, Says Sandeep Tandon -
NDTV Profit Ignite 2026: Experts See Opportunity In Equities, Stay Bullish For Long-Term -
Buy Right, Sit Tight Does Not Work for Individual Stocks, Says Dinshaw Irani -
'Worst Is Behind': Quant MF Sees Market Bottom, Flags 'Extreme Euphoria' In Midcaps -
India's Mutual Fund Industry Could Become A $1 Trillion Opportunity, Say Fund Managers -
'Foreign Investors Are Baraatis': Raamdeo Agrawal's Take On LTCG Tax -
Stay Invested Through Market Cycles: Raamdeo Agrawal at NDTV Profit Ignite -
Ramesh Damani Remains Bullish On India For Next 20-30 Years, Sees Bargains Amid Market Weakness -
CAS Came After A Long Consultation Process: SEBI Chairman Tuhin Kanta Pandey AT NDTV PROFIT IGNITE -
Aim To Cut FPI Onboarding Time From Mth To Five Days: SEBI Chairman Tuhin Kanta Pandey AT NDTV PROFI
ALSO READ: Paraguayan President Pena Removed From Office, Arrested
One of the main goals of the existing security framework is to deter Russia from attacking Europe. It would make little sense to have such discussions while Moscow continues to wage war against Ukraine and is violating an array of existing agreements, some of the people said.
That approach risks further tension with the Trump administration, which has been pushing to include proposals about Europe's so-called security architecture in parallel to other topics in ongoing peace talks with Russia. Russian, Ukrainian and US officials are due to meet in Abu Dhabi next week, resuming negotiations for the first time since February.
“We fully recognize the importance of protecting European sovereignty, preserving NATO's central role in collective defense, and ensuring that every nation retains the right to make its own security decisions,” White House spokeswoman Anna Kelly said in a statement.
In a post this week on X, Jared Kushner, President Donald Trump's son-in-law and envoy, wrote that the US objective was to “develop practical arrangements that address the security concerns of all sides.”
“We are exploring five principal goals: permanent security consultations, reliable crisis communications, greater military transparency, reciprocal measures to reduce escalation risks, and an enduring framework for long-term European security and stability,” Kushner said in the post following talks with European and Ukrainian officials.
The apparent US push to reach a deal has unnerved some European capitals. “We shouldn't be wanting peace more than Putin does,” Polish Foreign Minister Radoslaw Sikorski told reporters in Warsaw on Thursday.
The US approach has also faced pushback from congressional Democrats. That's a problem for Trump given that Democrats are set to take majorities of both houses of Congress after this week's midterm elections. They and like-minded Republicans could complicate Trump's efforts to accommodate Putin.
“We already have a European security architecture. It's called NATO,” Senator Michael Bennet, a Colorado Democrat, said on X in response to Kushner's post. “And the greatest threat to European security isn't a lack of dialogue. It's Vladimir Putin.”
Beyond overlapping with NATO, Kushner's proposal would also appear to duplicate many of the objectives of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe, a body dating back to the 1970s that includes the US, Russia and many European nations and whose goal is to ensure stability and peace across the continent.
One sticking point continues to be the details of security guarantees that allies would provide Ukraine to ensure that Russia doesn't attack it again if a peace deal is reached – and, if it does, what help would Kyiv be provided with, according to the people.
Moscow is against any Western military presence in Ukraine, a condition that Kyiv and its European allies see as necessary to deter Russia from attacking its neighbor in the future, the people said.
Allies including the US have been discussing giving Ukraine guarantees similar to NATO's mutual defense clause, known as Article 5. That support would include weapons and other capabilities, though Kyiv's first line of defense would be its own army. Russia has previously demanded that its size and capabilities be restricted.
The people stressed that a ceasefire needed to come before any agreements relating to post-war security, and such arrangements would need buy-in from all European nations.
In the Abu Dhabi talks, Ukraine and Russia are expected to pick up where they left off, including with discussions on how any peace agreement would be implemented and monitored, as well as potential de-escalation measures. European officials will likely be in the city but are expected to only take part in talks if there is sufficient progress, the people said.
Negotiations over territory have been mostly parked for now, as they require higher-level political decisions. Putin remains adamant that he wants the entirety of the Donbas region in eastern Ukraine and has shown no sign of moving from that position, the people said.
European officials continue to believe the Russian president currently has no interest in seriously engaging in talks to end the war in the coming months and is focused on trying to break Ukraine's morale through an intensive bombing campaign, even as his troops make no advances on the ground and suffer record losses.
ALSO READ: Japan Banking Crisis Explained: ATM Disruption, Suspension Of Services And More
Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Trump envoy Steve Witkoff “think it's about territory,” Sikorski said. “No, it's not. It's about rebuilding the Russian empire.”
“It looks like sometimes more pressure is being put on the victim than the aggressor,” he said.
(This story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Essential Business Intelligence, Sharp Market Insights, Practical Personal Finance Advice, Daily Fuel, Gold and Silver Prices and Latest Stories — On NDTV Profit.