Negotiations to end the war in Ukraine cannot turn into a discussion about the future of Europe without Europeans at the table.
That is the message European Union leaders delivered to Russia on Thursday, Euronews.com reported, following talks in Abu Dhabi where Moscow rejected direct contact with European representatives.
At the heart of the diplomatic clash is Europe’s security architecture, which the Kremlin wants to place front and center. European capitals fear Moscow aims to widen negotiations beyond Ukraine and challenge the continent’s strategic balance, including the role of NATO.
"We will define and decide on our future security as Europeans ourselves." I have no doubt about that,” French President Emmanuel Macron said at the start of a summit of European leaders in Dublin, Ireland.”
German Chancellor Friedrich Merz echoed that stance, urging Moscow to accept direct talks. The Abu Dhabi format included meetings between Ukraine, Russia, and the United States, while European officials participated in preliminary consultations without talking to the Russian delegation.
“Ukraine must sit at the table. Europeans must sit at the table. Americans and, of course, Russia must sit at the table,” Merz said. “It is important that Russia comes to the table and that it is ready for talks.”
EU High Representative for Foreign Affairs Kaja Kallas warned against confusing the steps of the negotiation. She outlined a sequence: first a ceasefire in Ukraine, then a peace agreement, and only afterward a broader discussion on European security.
Kallas said that a continental security system already exists through the 1975 Helsinki Accords, the 1990 Charter of Paris, and the 1994 Budapest Memorandum. The core problem, she observed, is that Russia fails to honor its commitments.
Estonian Prime Minister Kristen Michal called Moscow’s push a trap. He argued the Kremlin wants concessions reaching far beyond Ukraine, starting with a rollback of NATO in Eastern Europe.
That demand is not new. In February 2022, weeks before launching its full-scale invasion, Moscow presented the Atlantic Alliance with proposals demanding an end to eastward expansion and the withdrawal of NATO forces from countries that joined after 1997. Allies rejected those demands.
Lithuanian President Gitanas Nausėda also insisted Europeans must have a role. He said that talks must happen under fair conditions without decisions made behind Kyiv’s back.
Those warnings follow comments from Vladimir Medinsky, head of the Russian delegation in Abu Dhabi. He asserted that Moscow will not limit discussions to the war in Ukraine, framing it as a crisis of the entire European security system.
“The whole organism is sick and Ukraine was just the place where an abscess burst. Therefore, the whole organism needs to be treated. A simple adhesive bandage will not suffice,” Medinsky said.
The Russian representative ruled out direct talks with Europeans due to their military and financial backing of Kyiv. Even so, Russian President Vladimir Putin maintained bilateral contacts with European leaders, holding a 90-minute phone call last month with the prime ministers of Finland and Norway.
Meanwhile, the United States administration has revived the debate over security architecture. President Donald Trump and special envoy Jared Kushner opened the door to pairing peace talks with a wider discussion on security relations between Russia and Europe.
During the Abu Dhabi meetings, Kushner invited Moscow to present proposals for discussion with European representatives. On Thursday, Kushner and special envoy Steve Witkoff arrived in Moscow to meet with Putin to secure the Kremlin’s approval for European participation in upcoming negotiations.
The US envoys planned to travel next to Dublin to meet with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy. Zelenskyy called the American approach “a bit strange,” urging European partners to remain vigilant against any deal between Washington and Moscow that bypasses Kyiv.
