New Security Architecture: What Concerned Zelensky and European Leaders

Zelensky stated this on Thursday, November 12, at a summit in Dublin, according to AFP. "This concerns not only security guarantees for Ukraine. In fact, it is more about a certain security system between Europe and Russia. We expect additional details, and Europe must pay the closest attention to this," emphasized the Ukrainian president. His statement came after two days of trilateral negotiations between Ukraine, the United States, and Russia in Abu Dhabi, focused on ending the war. On Thursday, special envoys of U.S. President Donald Trump, Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner, traveled to Moscow to meet with Vladimir Putin. Statements from American representatives about the possibility of forming a new European security system as part of a peace agreement have raised concerns in European capitals. Some politicians fear that Washington may make concessions to Moscow that affect the interests of European allies. European Council President Antonio Costa, speaking in Dublin, stated that there is no need to create a new security system from scratch. "There is no need to reinvent the wheel. Europe had a functioning security architecture until it was first gradually undermined and then completely destroyed by the Russian invasion of Ukraine," Costa emphasized. European Union leaders insist that discussing new agreements on European security is premature while Russia continues its military actions. The concerns of European politicians are also related to the demands that the Kremlin made to NATO before the full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022. At that time, Moscow demanded, among other things, the withdrawal of alliance forces from Eastern Europe and a halt to further NATO expansion. The North Atlantic Alliance rejected these conditions. However, Europe fears that now Russia may again put forward similar demands, hoping to achieve concessions from the Trump administration.