BRUSSELS — Europe is once again watching the White House through gritted teeth.
An opaque Trump administration proposal for a new European-wide security arrangement with Russia has met skepticism from European capitals that fear it risks sidelining the continent and emboldening Kremlin chief Vladimir Putin.
“We already have a European security architecture in place — NATO and European Union both have their respective roles,” EU foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas said Friday in reaction to the U.S. proposal. “We must make sure Ukraine is integrated into this architecture. The problem remains that Russia keeps breaking the treaties that underpin it ... Putin does not have a veto over European security.”
The latest U.S. proposal underscores growing anxiety around Trump’s fresh rapprochement with Russia as he ramps up pressure on Ukraine and his administration attempts to revive long-stalled talks to end Moscow’s full-scale war against Kyiv.
POLITICO spoke to 12 NATO diplomats, EU envoys and European government officials, all of whom were granted anonymity to speak freely on the sensitive issue. NATO allies were not briefed about the American plans in advance, according to three alliance diplomats, and many remain skeptical of the idea.
U.S. President Donald Trump late Thursday talked of a “big, beautiful agreement,” after meeting with Putin’s envoy Kirill Dmitriev, adding: “It’s going to involve more than Ukraine, and I could even say it might involve all of Europe.”
“Our objective is to develop practical arrangements that address the security concerns of all sides, reduce the risk of future conflict, and create a more stable and predictable security environment,” Trump’s son-in-law and envoy Jared Kushner added soon after.
Kushner said the arrangement would have five goals: “Permanent security consultations, reliable crisis communications, greater military transparency, reciprocal measures to reduce escalation risks, and an enduring framework for long-term European security and stability.”
“It is a bit obscure what Kushner meant,” said one NATO diplomat. “The general sentiment in Europe is that any discussion with Russia on the future architecture at the moment will just be used by Moscow to legitimize their arguments ... it will not fly with the European allies.”
A senior European official added: “Literally, there’s nothing to find fault with, but we know there’s something else going on.”
'The elephant in the room'
European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen’s top adviser, Björn Seibert, briefed EU ambassadors on Friday, according to two EU diplomats, following a discussion between national security advisers on the issue.
“There’s willingness to engage in Kyiv and in the rest of Europe although there’s little confidence in the Russians — but the EU is not blocking it,” one of the EU diplomats said after the meeting. But “the group around Trump underestimated how important the conflict is for Europe and how a bad outcome for Ukraine is very dangerous for Europe.”
“It's a long-standing position for us and many others that European security architecture should not be discussed while there is a war,” said a senior European security official. “And obviously not without Europeans.”
“Europe must have a seat at the table in negotiations on peace in Ukraine and the future European security architecture,” Lithuanian President Gitanas Nausėda added Friday, after a meeting of the eight Nordic and Baltic countries.
This week saw two rounds of working-level meetings in Brussels on a Ukraine peace deal, ahead of U.S.-brokered working-level talks with Ukraine and Russia on Nov. 10-11 in Abu Dhabi.
“We must be realistic about the peace talks and we must be very careful when it comes to the real intentions of Russia,” Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk told a group of reporters, including from POLITICO, earlier this week. “In winter, Putin might have less incentives to get a deal.”
Stefan Kornelius, spokesperson for German Chancellor Friedrich Merz — who talked to Trump on Thursday night — said: “A new sense of urgency has ... emerged” on negotiations after this week's U.S. midterm elections, adding the issue would resurface at an informal gathering of EU leaders in Dublin next week.
The meeting had been intended to focus on AI, but developments in Ukraine could overshadow the talks, a third EU diplomat said. “Things are moving pretty fast,” they said.
Still, some allies fear the U.S. may tie its new initiative to an upcoming review of American troops in Europe, expected in December.
“That’s the elephant in the room,” said a second NATO diplomat. “One thing is talking about European security architecture ... with an ‘ordinary’ U.S. posture; another thing is to talk about a European security architecture ‘as things will be,’ and nobody knows how that’ll be.”
