US envoys will press Russia to allow Europe to join peace talks – Politico

Politico, citing US officials, has reported that US President Donald Trump's envoys Jared Kushner and Steve Witkoff will put pressure on Russia to allow Europe to participate in future negotiations on the continent's security.

Source: European Pravda, citing Brussels-based politics and policy news organisation Politico

Details: Trump's son-in-law Jared Kushner and special envoy Steve Witkoff will insist that Europe play a direct role in future negotiations as they act as mediators in the first trilateral talks with Russia and Ukraine since February, due to take place on 10 November in Abu Dhabi, the officials said.

European governments and EU institutions are unlikely to have much time to decide whom they want to represent them at the negotiating table. Kushner and Witkoff are seeking to accelerate the pace of negotiations and want this week's meeting to be the last without full European participation, the same officials stated.

"We need Europe at the table," one official said. "So our proposal is to bring the Europeans into the discussion after this trilateral," they added.

The officials viewed positively the fact that the leaders of Finland and Norway had called Russian leader Vladimir Putin directly on 27 October and said more active engagement was needed.

"We need a lot more European discussions with Russia so that they could be hearing what we're hearing and the message that they're conveying to us they could be conveying to Russia directly," US officials said.

The question of who should speak on Europe's behalf – and whether Ukraine's European allies should engage in talks with Putin at all – is deeply divisive. EU leaders will discuss this issue at an informal summit in Dublin later this week.

European governments fear that Trump may be preparing to acquiesce to Putin's longstanding demands to reduce NATO's influence in the region. However, the US officials insisted that NATO will remain central to Europe's collective defence, whilst maintaining that the continent's relationship with Russia needs to be fundamentally rethought.

Europeans have "a lot of baggage" about revising the security architecture because Russia has proposed various changes in the past and previous agreements have failed, the same official added, and went on to say: "We have to build something new that works today."

Background:

• German Foreign Minister Johann Wadephul has rejected calls for a new European security architecture as a means of ending Russia's war of aggression against Ukraine
• Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy warned the Trump administration on 7 November that its proposed new security plan for Europe could be "dangerous", as Russia has shown no signs of wanting to end the war.
• The US administration's vague proposal for a new security deal with Russia in Europe has prompted scepticism and concern in European capitals, which fear it could lead to the continent being sidelined in the negotiations.

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