The White House has outlined a proposed European security framework alongside security guarantees for Ukraine as the Trump administration prepares for trilateral peace talks with Ukraine and Russia in Abu Dhabi on November 10-11. US envoy Jared Kushner described the initiative in a November 5 social media post after discussions in Brussels with Ukrainian, NATO and European officials. He said the talks would be the first of their kind since February.
The framework includes permanent security consultations, crisis communications, greater military transparency, reciprocal steps to reduce escalation risks, and a long-term arrangement for European security and stability. Kushner said it would respect every country’s sovereignty and territorial integrity, that no state would have a veto over another’s security choices or alliances, and that NATO would remain central to European collective defence. Consultations would continue through the Shell Bay format, involving Ukraine, NATO, the European Union and other European partners, with Russia also taking part in the peace negotiations.
The announcement followed President Donald Trump’s November 5 White House meeting with Kirill Dmitriev, special envoy of Russian President Vladimir Putin. Trump said he believed a big, beautiful agreement could be close and suggested it might involve not only Ukraine but all of Europe. He told reporters it was going to be a big agreement involving more than Ukraine and predicted that everyone’s going to be thrilled. A US official told RFE/RL that this was not the two men’s first White House meeting, that waivers had been issued so Dmitriev could travel, and that no decision to remove him from the US Treasury sanctions list had been announced. He remained under sanctions as of November 5.
Glen Howard, president of the Saratoga Foundation, told RFE/RL that the announcement could be meant to reassure Ukraine and European allies that Washington was not abandoning their interests while putting pressure on Russia. He said the reference to a broader European security architecture was particularly concerning and pointed to remarks last week by Kremlin adviser Yury Ushakov calling for a return to NATO’s pre-1997 posture, before expansion into Eastern Europe and the Baltic states. Howard asked since when Russia gets a say about the future of NATO and undoing the eastern flank, and questioned what concessions Russia would offer. He warned that putting NATO’s posture on the table could set a precedent, compared the potential approach to the 1938 Munich agreement, and cited comments by senior Pentagon official Elbridge Colby urging Baltic states to tone down anti-Russian rhetoric. He also suggested that French and British preparations for possible peacekeeping deployments to Ukraine, and discussions about rerouting gas through Ukraine, could form part of a wider strategy around the negotiations.
John Herbst, a former US ambassador to Ukraine and senior director at the Atlantic Council’s Eurasia Center, cited Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov’s statement that Russia would make no compromises and the reported appointment of Vladimir Medinsky to lead the Russian delegation. He said European involvement could help sustain support for Ukraine, but that European efforts to influence the administration had limited impact compared with the Kremlin’s ability to sway Trump. He questioned the focus on postwar arrangements before a meaningful Russian commitment to stop fighting and called designing guarantees strong enough for President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, yet acceptable to Russia, an impossible task. Herbst said Putin still seeks control over Ukraine and wants Trump to persuade Kyiv to surrender the remaining Ukrainian-held parts of the Donbas, and that attacks on cities and civilian infrastructure could continue.
Mark Temnycky of the Atlantic Council expected incremental progress but no breakthrough, with territory and postwar security the main obstacles. He said credible guarantees require agreement in Washington and European capitals on enforcement and on financing reconstruction, which the World Bank Group, European Commission, United Nations and Ukrainian government estimate at nearly $588 billion over the next decade. He cautioned that Washington cannot simply offer Ukraine EU membership, because that decision rests with all 27 member states. Two senior European diplomats in Washington told RFE/RL on November 5 that European leaders do not believe Russia is prepared to make genuine concessions.
On November 5, first lady Melania Trump hosted Russian and Ukrainian representatives at the White House to mark a six-day cease-fire she helped broker in Russian-occupied Oleshky in the Kherson region. Nearly 800 people were evacuated during the pause, announced in late October. She said the parties had chosen humanity over war and urged them to seek common ground through concern for civilians. Zelenskyy arrived in Spain for talks on air defences and meetings on the sidelines of the Ibero-American summit, and said further contacts with US officials were planned before Abu Dhabi. He wrote that Ukraine was coordinating with partners for concrete results on security and the next steps toward peace.