US wants to bring Europe into Ukraine talks after Abu Dhabi meeting

The United States intends to secure Europe’s participation in the next round of negotiations on Ukraine.

This is reported by Politico, citing American officials.

According to the publication, US presidential special representatives Jared Kushner and Steven Witkoff will raise this issue at the trilateral talks between Ukraine, Russia and the United States, which begin today in Abu Dhabi. The American side wants the current meeting to be the last one without full European participation.

“We need Europe at the negotiating table. That is why our proposal is to bring the Europeans into the discussion after this trilateral meeting,” one American official said.

Representatives of the United Kingdom, Germany, France, Italy, NATO and EU institutions have already arrived in Abu Dhabi, but due to Russia’s objections they will not take part in the main negotiations. Kushner and Witkoff intend to hold separate consultations with them.

Earlier, the Kremlin also stated the need for Europeans to be present at the negotiations when discussing the future security system on the continent.

According to Politico, the first day of the talks will be devoted to security guarantees for Ukraine and a possible change in Europe’s security architecture. The second day is planned for discussion of territorial issues.

European governments fear that US President Donald Trump may agree to the long-standing demands of Kremlin head Vladimir Putin to limit NATO’s influence in the region. However, American officials assure that the Alliance will retain a central role in European defense.

At the same time, Washington considers it necessary to fundamentally revise Europe’s relations with Russia.

“Obviously, something is not working. We must build something new that will work today,” an American official said.

According to him, Russia and Ukraine have already shown some flexibility on the territorial issue in closed-door talks.

At the same time, the US does not expect a final ceasefire agreement to be concluded at the current meeting. Its main task is to maintain the momentum of the negotiations. Washington also believes that territorial issues and future security guarantees for Ukraine and Europe must be addressed simultaneously.

Meanwhile, Russian media report that the trilateral talks between Ukraine, Russia and the United States in Abu Dhabi will begin at 9:50 Kyiv time. The full composition of the Russian delegation, again headed by Russian presidential aide Medinsky, is being published.

The delegation has been significantly reinforced with FSB representatives. The main group includes the head of the FSB service for operational information and international relations, Alexei Komkov. The expert group includes the head of FSB counterintelligence, Dmitry Minayev. The group also includes the head of military intelligence (the former GRU), Igor Kostyukov.

European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen has said that the European Union is against discussing a new security architecture before a ceasefire in Ukraine. The New York Times previously reported that the expected talks between Kyiv, Washington and Moscow in Abu Dhabi do not plan to discuss a ceasefire in Ukraine.