Expert: US plan ties Ukraine talks to Europe's security, favors Russia

A U.S. plan to link Ukraine peace talks to European security is a concession to Russia, said Kristi Raik, director of the International Center for Defense and Security (ICDS).
Estonia and the other two Baltic states need a united European voice at the talks, Raik added.
"This is precisely what Russia has been demanding all along. Europe's position has been that the war in Ukraine must first be brought to an end. Once that has been agreed, discussions can begin on whether any adjustments to Europe's security architecture are needed. Russia's position is that it wants veto power over matters concerning Europe," Raik told "Aktuaalne kaamera".
While Europe is unwilling to be left out of the talks, it remains unclear who will be representing it. The Baltic states, meanwhile, can advance their own interests through a representation like this, though getting that position seems unlikely, Raik went on.
"It is not very realistic to expect the Baltic states to have direct representation there. But what the Baltic states can work toward is ensuring that Europe is represented as united as possible and with common positions," Raik said.
Academic: US administration like a mafia 'family'
Meanwhile Holger Mölder, an associate professor at Tallinn University of Technology (TalTech), said grandiose plans twinned with impressive-sounding adjectives have been heard from the other side of the Atlantic before; it is almost as if a family business were selling its products, he noted.
"U.S. diplomacy seems to be run by a private company. Trump's business partners, the Kushner family and the Witkoff family, have been brought into it. They are all part of this big family. It resembles mafia movies and the criminal underworld," Mölder said.
European leaders, led by EU foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas, have rejected any US-Russia deal on Europe's security, with Kallas insisting that Europe already has a security architecture in place, that Russia is the one breaking the treaties behind it, and that "Putin does not have a veto over European security." The pushback follows Trump's claim that a "big beautiful deal" may be round the corner.
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Editor: Andrew Whyte, Marko Tooming











