European officials declare themselves exhausted by successive summits, which are increasingly perceived as platforms for empty discussions without tangible results, a fact that partly explains the cold reception given by European capitals to the proposal by European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen for the creation of yet another new structure, the European Security Council.
Rapid diplomatic developments are causing a rift in European capitals, as leaders of the continent are now openly seeking the end of the European Political Community (EPC), the body founded on the initiative of French President Emmanuel Macron to strengthen confrontation against Russia. Sources from inside the European Union reveal that many participants appear deeply disappointed with the functioning of the forum and look forward to its dissolution when France acquires a new president next year. European officials declare themselves exhausted by successive summits, which are increasingly perceived as platforms for empty discussions without tangible results, a fact that partly explains the cold reception given by European capitals to the proposal by European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen for the creation of yet another new structure, the European Security Council.
At the same time, the summit of the European Political Community, with the participation of leaders from fifty European countries, is taking place in Dublin with the Ukrainian issue at the center of the agenda, in the wake of the peace talks held this week in Abu Dhabi. The fact is that Europe's institutional paralysis can no longer be hidden, and this is evident not only in the reluctance of Europeans for other fruitless forums, but also in the fact that the US, through mediators Kushner and Witkoff, is now bringing Europe to the negotiating table, yet Europe appears fragmented, with seven different representatives crowding into Abu Dhabi, and unable to appoint even a single unified interlocutor. This weakness exposes it at the very moment its security architecture is being decided. At the same time, German officials characterize the talks as a "Russian trap", fearing that Moscow is feigning a willingness for peace in order to buy time and divide the West. And not only that. Because on a second reading of the term "diplomatic trap", the US is finally giving Brussels the seat at the table it has been demanding for months, yet gives it to them at the worst possible moment, when they are institutionally fractured and forced to discuss changes to the NATO security system under the pressure of an impending Trump-Putin agreement.
The critical consultations in Abu Dhabi and the diplomatic race from Moscow to Dublin
The truth is that for Vladimir Putin the stakes never concerned only Ukraine, a fact that Washington now appears to fully comprehend, creating a development that is simultaneously hopeful yet potentially terrifying for Europe. When Jared Kushner entered the briefing room to announce the results of the two-day peace negotiations between Russia and Ukraine, he did not attempt to hide how tough the process was, stating directly that there is no trust between the two sides and that extremely difficult discussions took place. The two delegations, under the leadership of a Kremlin advisor and the head of Ukrainian intelligence services, placed all thorny issues on the table, including the hardest of all concerning the fate of disputed territories, with the atmosphere cooling from the first to the second day, when the session broke up after just two hours. Although Volodymyr Zelensky maintained that Kyiv's negotiators convinced the Americans to accept their own analysis of the front line, the sole tangible agreement concerns a large prisoner exchange dependent on Vladimir Putin's approval. For this reason, Jared Kushner and Donald Trump's other envoy, Steve Witkoff, are traveling to Moscow to meet the Russian president in order to finalize the numbers and secure his consent for European participation in the next round of negotiations, before traveling to Dublin to meet Volodymyr Zelensky in person.
Washington's major shift and the search for a unified European representative
The biggest change of recent days is identified in the stance of the United States, as persistent lobbying by Kyiv and Brussels bore fruit. Jared Kushner and Steve Witkoff are now seeking the presence of European officials in the next round, so as to open the discussion around one of Vladimir Putin's biggest obsessions, namely relations with NATO and the future architecture of European security. The American envoy underlined that the only way to complete the process is for Europeans to stand alongside Washington, noting in fact that the Russian stance began to soften only when post-war arrangements were placed on the table, while at the same time the climate toward Kyiv changed drastically, with Jared Kushner praising the Ukrainian team just weeks after Donald Trump's furious demands for the replacement of Volodymyr Zelensky. Nevertheless, Europe, which already struggles to keep its existing institutions alive, is called upon to solve a massive organizational problem, as on the sidelines of the talks in Abu Dhabi representatives from the European Commission, the European Council, NATO, the United Kingdom, France, Germany, and Italy were crowding together, leading Jared Kushner to point out caustically that if Europe manages to appoint a single person to speak on its behalf, that will constitute a greater achievement even than persuading the Russians to include it in the negotiations.
The moment of truth for the continent's security and the fear of a well-laid Russian trap
After months of anxiety over being left on the sidelines, Europe now finds itself, subject to Vladimir Putin's approval, in the vortex of the most dangerous negotiations in its modern history. The critical question is to what extent talks on changing the continent's security framework, which rests on NATO, will be linked to peacemaking in Ukraine, as the United States explores the idea of providing NATO-style collective defense guarantees to Kyiv. European capitals declare themselves willing to discuss the broader security system alongside the peace process, yet refuse to sign any reform before peace is achieved, with Jared Kushner assuring that the implementation of post-war security will not begin unless there is an agreement on territories. However, intense skepticism prevails in European capitals, as everything agreed upon remains temporary and can be overturned with a single phone call from Vladimir Putin to Donald Trump, with German officials warning that the entire process constitutes a Russian trap creating the false impression of a willingness for peace, at a time when Europeans are simply trying to survive this storm.
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