U.S. officials said the first day of negotiations would focus on security guarantees for Ukraine and the potential overhaul of Europe’s security architecture. The second day would focus on territorial issues – where borders should be drawn – and other issues.
European governments fear that Trump is preparing to agree to Putin’s long-standing demands to reduce NATO’s influence in the region. But U.S. officials insisted that NATO would remain central to Europe’s collective defense, while refusing to abandon the need to fundamentally rethink the continent’s relationship with Russia.
“Clearly something is not working,” the same official said. The Europeans have “a lot of baggage” regarding overhauling the security architecture because Russia had proposed various changes in the past and previous arrangements had failed, the official said. “We need to build something new that works today.”
The officials said NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte had been heavily involved in discussions with the U.S. administration and sharing ideas for reforms.
On Ukraine’s most difficult issue of all – the fate of Russian-occupied territory – both sides have shown “flexibility” in private, the officials said. The aim of this week’s talks is to maintain the momentum of recent weeks, rather than achieve a final ceasefire, they added.
But the two main parts of the negotiations – territory and future security arrangements for Ukraine and Europe – must happen together and be resolved together, the US side said.
Additional reporting by Scott Waldman.
Gn world
