NATO: Kyiv and Allies work for “just and lasting peace”

A NATO today has indicated that it is working together with Ukraine and Kyiv’s allies on a solution that allows for a “just and lasting peace” between Ukrainians and Russians.

A NATO spokesman said that representatives of the organisation, the United States, Ukraine, European countries and the European Union (EU) met in Brussels on Thursday as part of the forthcoming talks between Kyiv and Moscow.

The talks, under American mediation, are scheduled for November 10 and 11 in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates.

The meeting in Brussels “sought to bring about a just and lasting end to the war in Ukraine,” said NATO spokesman Allison Hart, quoted by the French agency AFP.

Abu Dhabi's talks will resume the dialogue interrupted by the Israeli-American war against Iran, which began in February.

US President Donald Trump has promised a “very big” next agreement with Russia on Ukraine, which “may encompass all of Europe”.

One of the American negotiators, Jared Kushner, Trump’s son-in-law, needed to achieve “a broader European security architecture that could contribute to creating the conditions for lasting peace.”.

The term “European Security Architecture” is one of the key language elements of the Kremlin (Russian Presidency) for several years.

Russian President Vladimir Putin recalled him on October 22 during a state television interview.

“ The aim of these discussions will be to address the issue of security guarantees for both Ukraine and Russia (...) under a final agreement” for European security, he said.

The European countries fear that this new “European security architecture” will be weakened by NATO.

Kushner, who took part on Thursday by video conference at the Brussels meeting, said that NATO will continue “at the centre of European collective defence.”.

Trump’s initiative will be based “on existing institutions and commitments”, he assured.

“ Our goal is to implement concrete provisions that address the security concerns of all parties, reduce the risk of future conflicts and create a more stable and predictable security environment,” he said.

Europeans expect “two difficult months” before the inauguration of the new Congress, a Democratic majority, resulting from Tuesday’s mid-term elections in the United States, warned a high European official.

“Trump will try to sell everything to Russia now,” he warned, quoted by AFP without identifying it.

Europeans also complain about not participating directly in the tripartite talks and the Chancellor of Germany, one of the countries that most assist Ukraine, demanded on Tuesday that the voice of Europe be heard.

“ The central elements of a peace solution, whether on sanctions or on security architecture, can only be resolved with us, the Europeans, and everyone involved knows this in full clarity,” said Friedrich Merz.

Russia invaded Ukraine to “demilitarize and de-nazify” the neighbouring country, as Putin announced in February 2022, when he ordered the military offensive.

The invasion triggered an armed conflict that has been considered the most deadly in Europe since World War II (1939–1945), although the exact number of victims, both military and civilian, is unknown.

Russia had already invaded Ukraine in 2014, when it annexed the Crimean peninsula, the return of which is required by the Ukrainian authorities.

Kyiv also demands the withdrawal of Russian troops occupying partially the regions of Donetsk, Lugansk, Kherson and Zaporijia since the beginning of the war, which Moscow claims as part of Russia.

Ukraine was a republic of the Soviet Union from the founding of the Communist bloc controlled by Moscow in 1922 until its dissolution in 1991.