Russia is tying the possible participation of European representatives in future negotiations on Ukraine to the acceptance of its long-standing demands for changes to the European security system. These include halting NATO enlargement, banning the deployment of alliance weapons near Russia’s borders, and returning NATO to its 1997 configuration, the Institute for the Study of War reported.
According to the ISW analysis, Moscow is allowing European participation mainly in talks on a new security architecture, but not in negotiations on ending the war in Ukraine. The institute assesses that imposing such conditions would, in practice, amount to the dissolution of NATO.
Differences between Washington, Kyiv and Moscow
US presidential special envoy Jared Kushner said after meeting with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky in Dublin that Ukraine and Russia had agreed to expand the next round of talks to include European representatives. According to him, the discussions will cover not only territorial issues but also broader arrangements for post-war security in Europe.
Kushner said that the US delegation and Zelensky had agreed that a broader agreement on European security should not be finalised without resolving issues related to Ukraine’s security. He said these topics should be discussed in parallel.
Moscow, however, disputes this version. Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said on November 13 that Vladimir Putin had not discussed the inclusion of European representatives in the next round of negotiations during his meeting with Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner on November 12.
Russia repeats its demands from 2021
Following Putin’s meeting with Kushner and Witkoff, Russian presidential aide Yuri Ushakov said that Moscow expected European representatives to agree on the parameters of a new security system. He also said that Russia was ready to begin talks with US representatives immediately.
Ushakov repeated Russia’s three main demands: an end to NATO enlargement, a ban on deploying alliance weapons systems near Russia’s borders, and a return to NATO’s 1997 configuration. These are the same conditions Moscow set out in 2021. He added that Russia wanted to include “some new considerations”.
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said that Russia could discuss European participation in the negotiations only after clarifying their “true” intentions and their readiness to contribute to the peace process. On November 6, Peskov said that talks on the future security system in Europe and mutual guarantees between Russia and Ukraine would at some point be impossible without European participation. Four days later, he said that Moscow saw no format for discussing the war in Ukraine with Europe.
“The Kremlin continues to set conditions for Europe’s participation in future peace negotiations that are, in practice, tantamount to the dissolution of NATO,” the ISW said.Thus, according to the institute, Russia’s position limits the role of European countries both in efforts to end the war and in shaping post-war security guarantees for Ukraine.
Sources: obozrevatel.com