The U.S. officials said Day 1 of the talks would focus on security guarantees for Ukraine and the potential reshaping of the security architecture of Europe. Day 2 would look at territorial issues — where the borders and boundaries should be drawn — and other questions.
European governments fear that Trump may be preparing to agree to longstanding demands from Putin to roll back NATO’s influence in the region. But the U.S. officials insisted that NATO would still be central to Europe’s collective defense, while refusing to back away from the need for a fundamental rethink of the continent’s relations with Russia.
“Obviously something’s not working,” the same official said. Europeans have “a lot of baggage” about redrawing the security architecture because Russia had proposed various changes in the past and previous arrangements had failed, the official said. “We have to build something new that works today.”
The officials said NATO Secretary-General Mark Rutte had been heavily involved in the discussions with the U.S. administration and in sharing ideas for reforms.
On the most difficult question of all for Ukraine — 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 keep up the momentum of recent weeks, rather than to deliver a final ceasefire, they added.
But the two main tracks in the talks — territory and future security arrangements for Ukraine and Europe — must run together and be resolved together, the U.S. side said.
Additional reporting by Scott Waldman.