US officials insisted Monday that a broader security architecture for Europe must be part of any peace deal between Ukraine and Russia, amid European concerns over talks in Abu Dhabi on ending the war.
European capitals have expressed skepticism over what President Donald Trump has called a "big, beautiful" agreement for all Europe, fearing it could grant Russia its long-held desire to dismantle NATO.
With Europe clamoring for a seat at the table over Ukraine, Jared Kushner, a US envoy and Trump's son-in-law, said that Europe and Russia must have direct talks on "broader security arrangements."
Deep Dive
What does a broader European security architecture mean in the Ukraine peace talks?
Why does the US want Europe involved in a Ukraine peace deal?
How could security guarantees affect negotiations over Ukraine's territory?
"Ultimately, achieving a comprehensive and lasting settlement will also require direct engagement between Russia and our European partners on the broader security arrangements that affect them," Kushner said on X.
Kushner added there would be "difficult decisions ahead" to achieve a deal to end the war, which began in February 2022 when Russia launched a full-scale invasion of Ukraine.
The talks in Abu Dhabi will group the United States, Russia and Ukraine.
{{/usCountry}}The talks in Abu Dhabi will group the United States, Russia and Ukraine.
{{/usCountry}}But the United States will also be meeting key European nations, the EU and NATO in Abu Dhabi, to ease European concerns about being frozen out.
Russia has so far ruled out direct talks with European nations.
US officials said ahead of the Abu Dhabi talks that they were "cautiously optimistic" about the prospects of an eventual deal and that both Moscow and Kyiv were showing "a little bit of flexibility privately."
But they insisted on the importance of a broader security deal for Europe, saying that neither Russia nor Ukraine would discuss the war's core territorial issues without one.
"This is the first time I feel like we see real desire on the Russian side to finish," one US official said.
"But again, I believe from both sides, they will not solve the Donetsk issue and the territorial issue until they know what the security architecture is going to be after the war."
The United States had also "asked the Russians for us to be able to give" Ukraine NATO-style security guarantees, the official said, but gave no details on what a wider post-war deal for Europe would look like.
The United States was having "daily" discussions with Russia and Ukraine since Trump's administration stepped up its mediation efforts in recent months, following a period when the Iran war was a priority.
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