Vitaly Saenko19:11, 09.11.26
Officials and experts say Russia could take advantage of Kushner and Witkoff’s lack of experience in high-level negotiations on global security issues.
Russia is scoring an early strategic victory thanks to the desire of Jared Kushner and Steve Witkoff, special envoys to US President Donald Trump, to begin discussions on a post-war security architecture in Europe while Russia’s war against Ukraine continues, according to an article in The Washington Post .
As Western and Russian officials and analysts note, Russia is already celebrating a strategic victory even before the start of new talks in Abu Dhabi on ending Russia’s war in Ukraine, as Moscow has managed to engage the administration of US President Donald Trump in calling for a new foundation for a “broader European security architecture” as part of any peace agreement.
War instigator Vladimir Putin has long sought to portray his full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022 as a necessary response to what he claimed was a threat to Russian security from NATO’s eastward expansion and the alleged “persecution” of ethnic Russians living in eastern Ukraine.
These claims have previously been denied by the United States and its allies as false.
By initiating a broader discussion of European security as part of efforts to end the war, Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner, U.S. President Donald Trump’s special envoys, “may be diving into a quagmire they don’t understand,” according to European officials, former U.S. officials and security experts.
After all, such discussions risk creating the impression that the Trump administration endorses the Kremlin’s baseless claims and risks giving in to Russia’s demands for greater influence over security in Europe, even as Moscow has violated existing agreements in its quest to redraw borders by force.
At the same time, European officials insist that Russia must end its war against Ukraine before thinking about any discussions on the continent’s security.
“We already have a European security architecture,” said top EU diplomat Kaja Kallas, emphasizing the role of NATO and the EU. “The problem is that Russia continues to violate the agreements that underpin it,” Kallas added.
In turn, French Foreign Minister Jean-Noël Barrot notes that European officials, concerned that the United States will conduct such discussions without their participation, are insisting that representatives of European countries take part in the negotiations in Abu Dhabi.
As Daniel Fried, former US Assistant Secretary of State for European Affairs during the George W. Bush administration, points out, Jared Kushner and Steve Witkoff don’t know what they’re dealing with when they propose discussing post-war architecture in Europe.
“There’s a terrible sense in every administration except the Trump administration that Kushner and Witkoff don’t know what they’re focusing on,” Fried said.
He said it was perfectly reasonable for a president to ask a friend to be a special representative.
“But you have to listen to the professionals. And they don’t. Anyone could tell them that discussion of a post-war European security architecture is a contentious issue for the Kremlin,” Fried emphasized.
At the same time, however, the decision to include this discussion on the agenda marks another shift in Russia’s favor, as the Trump administration desperately seeks ways to end the war in Ukraine, which Trump previously promised to end within 24 hours before returning to the White House in 2025.
Current and former US security officials have expressed concerns that Russia could exploit Kushner and Witkoff’s lack of experience negotiating high-level global security issues. They also fear that Trump’s special envoys are already ceding too much ground by proposing business deals before a ceasefire is agreed upon.
One American official noted that such “misunderstandings… always arise when businessmen are at the helm of negotiations.”
As Eric Ciaramella, former acting senior director for European and Russian affairs on the White House National Security Council, noted, respect for territorial integrity and the freedom of countries to choose their alliances “is not something that Russia aspires to.”
(C)UNIAN 2026