The United States has asked Russia to put forward a fresh proposal for a security agreement with Europe, including measures to ease military tensions and address European concerns, as President Donald Trump’s administration seeks to negotiate an end to the Russia-Ukraine war, Axios reported on Wednesday, November 11.
The US wants Moscow to outline its security demands while also suggesting reciprocal steps to reassure European countries that it does not intend to attack them.
Two sources familiar with the matter told Axios that US President Trump’s envoys, Jared Kushner and Steve Witkoff, raised the proposal during talks involving Russian and Ukrainian officials in Abu Dhabi this week.
In response, Kushner and Witkoff told Russian representatives that circumstances had changed significantly since 2021. Because then-US President Joe Biden had failed to respond to a 2021 letter outlining Moscow’s security concerns, during the discussions, Russian negotiators argued that Putin launched the invasion of Ukraine. They also want Putin to agree to European representatives participating in the next round of Russia-Ukraine peace negotiations. The US envoys are then expected to travel to Dublin to meet Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky. They asked Moscow to submit a fresh proposal addressing its concerns while outlining measures it would be willing to take to reduce tensions. The Trump administration wants to negotiate the Russia-Europe security framework and a Ukraine peace agreement simultaneously. European diplomats remain sceptical about the proposal.
However, implementation of any broader security arrangement would follow an agreement to end the war, according to a source familiar with the White House ‘s position. European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said discussions about a new security architecture involving Russia should take place only after the war in Ukraine ends. Kushner and Witkoff are scheduled to meet Russian President Vladimir Putin in Moscow on Thursday to reiterate the proposal, according to Axios. The proposal for a new European security framework was a key focus of the Abu Dhabi discussions, which began on Tuesday with US, Russian and Ukrainian representatives.
