European officials pushed back against a U.S. effort to reshape the continent’s security arrangements as part of a possible Ukraine settlement, saying any plan could affect Europe’s security and required its participation.
At a Nov. 6 news conference in Warsaw, EU foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas said the European Union (EU) would have to take part in putting any agreement into effect. Kallas said Russia had repeatedly breached the treaties underpinning Europe’s security arrangements and described NATO as posing no danger to Moscow in 2021 or now. “Putin does not have a veto over European security,” Kallas said.
Polish Foreign Minister Radoslaw Sikorski said a decision about Ukraine’s and Europe’s future made without them could not work. Ukrainian Foreign Affairs Minister Andrii Sybiha said Moscow could not guarantee the European continent’s security.
U.S. President Donald Trump said Nov. 5 he expected a “very big” deal with Moscow involving Ukraine and all of Europe. His envoy Jared Kushner wrote online that Washington was working on a broader framework for European security, with practical arrangements addressing “the security concerns of all sides.”
AFP reported that U.S. representatives held preparatory sessions in Brussels this week, including discussions with alliance, EU and national representatives, over a two-day period. The meetings came as Europe seeks a larger role in the U.S.-led effort to end the fighting, AFP said.
The report recalled an earlier standoff. Before the 2022 invasion, Moscow sought to have NATO forces leave Eastern Europe, but the alliance declined. It also described European opposition to Russia’s aim of overhauling the arrangements underpinning the continent’s security.
An EU spokeswoman said substantial work remained to secure peace in Ukraine and that the bloc would make its own security decisions, AFP reported. NATO’s spokeswoman said Ukraine’s allies were working toward what she called a “just and sustainable” end to the war.
U.S.-mediated Ukraine-Russia talks are planned for Abu Dhabi next week. Kushner said Washington would consult European partners alongside the discussions and seek a wider format with their direct participation if progress is made.
