The United States has asked European capitals to provide detailed proposals on arms, peacekeeping troops and the security agreements they could provide to Ukraine as part of any security guarantee to end to his war with Russia.
The request was sent to the Capitals this week, four Western officials on the FT document said. He came then that European leaders asked to be part of Trump’s negotiations with Vladimir Putin whom he announced on Wednesday.
“This [document] is the way we make sure that we are involved, “said one of the officials.
French President Emmanuel Macron invited European leaders selected at a summit in Paris on Monday to discuss how Europe can intensify support in Ukraine, triggered by the remarks of American officials this week on the peace process.
Washington has the intention of his questionnaire, sent to governments by the United States Department of State, to extend the will of Europe to protect kyiv after a peace regulation, and the price that Europe is willing to pay in exchange to be involved in negotiations with Moscow.
The State Department asked for details on military equipment that European capitals would be able to provide and the number of troop brigades that they would be ready to deploy, officials said.
“The cable poses a number of general questions,” said an American official, adding that he asks for “proposals or specific ideas” for what a safety arrangement led by Europe might look like.
“I haven’t seen [the questionnaire] Myself, but I can perfectly understand that it would help to concentrate essentially the conversation, “said Mark Rutte, NATO secretary general.
Rutte said that regardless of American demand, European countries should be clear about how they can intensify their efforts.
“I hear European countries complaining that they did not immediately have room for [negotiation] table, ”said Rutte. “My argument is to organize yourself first, to debate and. . . Think of what the European contribution could be. »»
The American demand is before a visit to the European capitals of the Ukrainian envoy of Trump, Keith Kellogg, who begins next week in Brussels.
Kellogg was not listed by the president this week as part of the American team of four men who will have discussions with Moscow, officials in Europe and Ukraine to wonder how involved in the efforts of Trump’s peace.
US officials said Kellogg and others offered Trump options, who is the ultimate decision maker.
Kellogg told the Munich security conference on Saturday that discussions were “a two -track process.”
“”[US Middle East envoy Stephen Witkoff] to the Russian way. I have the Ukrainian and European way, “he said.
When asked if Kellogg’s influence was discouraged, an American official said that his schedule “speaks of himself”.
“Not only is he part of the team as the White House spokeswoman said, her diplomacy in Munich, in Brussels at the start of next week and the next critical trip to kyiv, as indicated personally by Zelenskyyy , speaks of himself in terms of his main role in this, working under the president, “said an American official.
The United States has indicated that it was ready to meet many basic requests from Putin by pouring cold water on the will of Ukraine to join NATO and recover the territory currently occupied by Russia .
Kellogg said on Saturday that he did not think that Europeans would be “at the table” during peace negotiations, but that he was talking to European capitals to ensure that their opinions were taken into account.
A high civil servant of the West said that Kellogg focuses on what Western countries could do to guarantee the security of Ukraine, rather than on the financial concessions that he could extract from kyiv in exchange, Russia had little of interest to deal with him.
The accent put by the Kremlin on the figures he considered as having a more direct line to Trump and a better command of the brief led Moscow to conclude that Kellogg had been partially sidelined, according to three Russians familiar with talks.
The US official said Kellogg has been one of Trump’s national national security advisers for almost a decade and that their relationship is “well known in Washington”.
Russia considers that other interlocutors such as Witkoff, who obtained the release of an American teacher from a Russian prison this week, and the national security advisor Mike Waltz has a more direct line to Trump and better order From thesis, they said.
“If he is the envoy, he should probably have asked for contacts in Russia and Ukraine in a short time, hire experts in the two countries, etc.,” said a former senior Kremlin. “Witkoff was more snapping than him.”
Another person involved in the awareness of Russia in the West said that Moscow had seen the role of Kellogg as largely ceremonial.
“Serious talks, as you know, are with Moscow and you need serious people for that,” said the person. Kellogg “is here to speak to the Ukrainians, to speak to Europeans, to go to television”.
Any progress in talks would depend on a direct contact between Trump and Putin, added the person.
“Trump’s method is to send someone like that and become serious later. The only problem is that his counterpart is Vladimir Putin, who as a specialist in human relations is several leagues above his level. »»
Dmitry Peskov, spokesperson for Putin, said that the negotiators’ programming was an internal American affair. “The presidents expressed a political will to strengthen dialogue, and it is the prerogative of the American president to appoint someone.”
Kellogg’s continuous talks with Ukraine and Europe suggest that it could always play an important role in the peace process, two of Western officials and the former Russian official said.
“Kellogg is still involved,” said the first Western official. “A few [European] Capitals do not take it seriously, and I think it is the bad approach. »»
The former senior Russian official said that Trump had “forgotten” Kellogg when named his negotiators, but “corrected” later “by shipping in Europe. “Maybe there will still be use for him.”
