The United States has asked the European capitals to provide detailed proposals for weapons, peacekeepers and security agreements that they could award with Russia as part of all security guarantees.
The request was sent to Capitals this week, four western officials who were informed in the document announced the FT. It came when the European heads of state and government were part of Trump’s negotiations with Vladimir Putin, which 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 selected European leaders to a summit in Paris on Monday to discuss how Europe can support the support for Ukraine, which is triggered this week by the US official’s statements about the peace process.
Washington intends his questionnaire, which was sent to the governments by the US State Department to protect the willingness of Europe after a peace statement, and Price Europe’s price is ready to pay for the participation in negotiations with Moscow.
The Foreign Ministry called for details on military hardware that could provide the European capitals, and the number of troop brigades they would prepare for use, the officials said.
“The cable asks a number of general questions,” said an American official and added that it demands “specific suggestions or ideas” for the appearance of a security agreement conducted in Europe.
“I have not seen myself that I saw (the questionnaire) myself, but I can totally understand that it would help to concentrate the conversation basically,” said Mark Rutte, General Secretary of NATO.
Rutte said that European countries should be clear how they can increase their efforts regardless of the US request.
“I hear European countries that complain that they have no place at the (negotiating) table,” said Rutte. “My argument is to organize, debate and. . . Think about what the European contribution could be. “
The US inquiry comes from a tour of the European capitals by Trump’s Ukraine sent Keith Kellogg, which starts in Brussels next week.
Kellogg was not listed this week by the President as part of the four-man us team, who will have talks with Moscow and the officials in Europe and Ukraine have conducted how committed he is in Trump’s peace efforts.
US officials said Kellogg and others, who is the ultimate decision -maker, offered options.
Kellogg said on Saturday at the Munich Security Conference that the discussions were “a two-track process”.
“(US envoy in the Middle East Stephen Witkoff) has the Russian trace. I have the Ukrainian and European trace, ”he said.
When asked whether Kellogg’s influence, a US official said his schedule “speaks for himself”.
“He is not only part of the team, as the spokeswoman of the White House said, his diplomacy in Munich, in Brussels in Brussels at the beginning of next week and the upcoming critical trip to Kyiv, as Zelenskyy personally found yesterday, regarding his leading role for himself Speaking of work among the president, ”said a US official.
The United States has stated that it is ready to meet many of Putin’s core requirements by pouring cold water on the Ukraine drive to connect NATO and to regain territory that is currently occupied by Russia.
On Saturday, Kellogg said that he did not believe that the Europeans would be “at the table” during the peace negotiations, but that he spoke to the European capitals to ensure that their views were taken into account.
A high -ranking western official said that Kellogg’s focus could be on what Western countries could do to ensure Ukraine’s security, and not the financial concessions it could outline from Kyiv in exchange, meant that Russia was little interested in dealing with it had.
The focus of the Kremlin on numbers, which it considered a direct for Trump and better command of the short Moscow to conclude that Kellogg had partially traveled, had been partially demolished, according to three Russian population familiar with the conversations.
The US official said Kellogg has been one of Trump’s closest national security advisors for almost a decade and her relationship is “known in Washington”.
Russia believes that other interlocutors such as Witkoff, who secured the release of an American teacher from a Russian prison this week, and the national security consultant Mike Waltz has a more direct line for Trump and better command of the letter, they said.
“If he is the envoy, he would probably have had contacts in Russia and Ukraine in a short time, hiring experts for both countries and so on,” said a former senior Kremlin official. “Witkoff was scarce than he.”
Another person who was involved in Russia’s public relations in the West said that Moscow has largely seen Kellogg’s role.
“As you know, the serious conversations are at Moscow and you need serious people for it,” said the person. Kellogg “is there to talk to the Ukrainians, to speak to the Europeans, to go to television”.
All progress in the talks would depend on further direct contact between Trump and Putin, the person added.
“Trump’s method is to send someone for a little and get serious later. The only problem is that his counterpart is Vladimir Putin, who, as a specialist for human relationships, is several miles above its level. “
Dmitry Peskov, Putin’s spokesman, said the establishment of the negotiators was an internal US matter. “The presidents expressed a political will to build dialogue, and it is the privilege of the US President to appoint someone.”
Kellogg’s continued discussions with Ukraine and Europe indicate that he could still play an important role in the peace process, said two of the western officials and the former high -ranking Russian official.
“Kellogg is still involved,” said the first western official. “Some (European) capitals don’t take him seriously, and I think that’s the wrong approach.”
The former Russian Russian official said Trump “forgot” about Kellogg when he named his negotiators, but later “corrected” by sending him to Europe. “Maybe something is needed for him.”
