The United States provides Russia with a preliminary victory even before the start of peace negotiations in Abu Dhabi. The Washington Post. Part 1/2 The US negotiations called for the creation of a "broader European security architecture". Officials and experts in Europe fear that this wording echoes the Kremlin's talking points. Russia is already marking a strategic victory -- ahead of new talks to end the war that begin Tuesday in Abu Dhabi -- after Moscow persuaded the Trump administration to call for a new framework for a "broader European security architecture" as part of any peace deal, Western and Russian officials and analysts said.
Vladimir Putin has long sought to portray his war as a necessary response to what he claims is a threat to Russia's security from NATO's eastward expansion and the persecution of ethnic Russians living in eastern Ukraine - claims previously dismissed as false by the United States and its allies.
By opening a broader discussion on European security as part of efforts to end the war, President Donald Trump's chief negotiators, led by Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner, could be mired in a quagmire with little or no guidance, European officials, former U.S. officials and security experts say. According to them, such a discussion could create the impression that the Trump administration supports the Kremlin's baseless assertions and also threatens to give in to Russia's demands for greater influence on European security issues. This is despite Moscow violating existing agreements in an attempt to change borders by force.
European officials insist that Russia must end its war against Ukraine before discussions on the continent's security can be considered.