Jared Kushner, a US special envoy and Donald Trump's son-in-law, is floating a new European security framework modeled on the NATO-Russia Council. The Washington Post reported he wants broader multilateral talks between Russia and Europe to run in parallel with Ukraine ceasefire negotiations; European officials insist any security-architecture talks must wait until a ceasefire. The NATO-Russia Council was suspended after Russia's 2014 seizure of Crimea.
The Trump administration wants to draw Russia into a longer-term European security arrangement, but European capitals fear this could legitimize Moscow and sideline Europe while the war in Ukraine continues.
The Washington Post's David Ignatius reported that Jared Kushner is considering the NATO-Russia Council as a model for post-war European security talks, and European officials insist a ceasefire in Ukraine must come first.
The Washington Post reported that Kushner wants to revive a NATO-Russia Council-style format and has called for broader multilateral talks between Russia and Europe on European security.
The NATO-Russia Council was suspended in 2014 after Russia's annexation of Crimea, and Kushner wants talks with Moscow to run alongside ceasefire negotiations in Ukraine.
Kushner floated a NATO-Russia Council-based security framework if the Abu Dhabi talks progress; European officials say a ceasefire must come before broader Russia talks, and President Zelensky says ending the war and Ukraine's security guarantees must come first.
BJared Kushner wants to reopen a NATO-Russia talking shop that's been frozen since 2014.
BNot a small ask while Russian troops are still in Ukraine.
BThe Washington Post reports Kushner sees the old NATO-Russia Council as "a model for Europe's postwar security."
BA council created in 2002, and suspended after Russia annexed Crimea.
BThat's the part Europeans find hard to swallow.
BAnd the Post says European officials want a ceasefire first.
BRight. Kushner wants broader security talks with Moscow running alongside ceasefire negotiations.
BEurope says stop the war, then talk architecture.
BDavid Ignatius has the byline. Anton Gerashchenko posted it on X.
BA Ukrainian military news account on X flagged it as a plan for postwar security in Europe.
BKyiv Post posted on X that Zelensky says ending the war and Ukraine's security guarantees come first.
BSo Washington floats a Russia forum while Kyiv is still fighting for territory.
BI get why Kyiv is furious. But I'll defend the instinct.
BYou? You're usually the one saying don't reward the invader.
BYou can't get a durable ceasefire if there's no forum for what comes after.
BThe NATO-Russia Council was created in 2002 and suspended after 2014. It didn't stop 2014.
BIt was never meant to stop an invasion. It was a channel.
BA channel Moscow used, then ignored when it invaded.
BBut the reward is a stable border, not a talk shop.
BThe talk shop is the normalization. Moscow gets legitimized before it's pulled back an inch.
BA parallel track is how you set the condition. You don't hand Putin a seat for free.
BThe Cold War had exactly this. NATO and the Warsaw Pact talked while missiles pointed both ways.
BThe Warsaw Pact wasn't occupying NATO's partner.
BThis is where European officials split. Kaja Kallas, the EU's foreign policy chief, said NATO and the EU already are Europe's security architecture.
BAnd I'll quote her: "Putin does not have a veto over European security."
BLithuania's president said Europe must have a seat at any future architecture talks.
BHe's right. If Kushner's framework runs through Washington and Moscow, Europe gets a folding chair.
BMight be more than Ukraine gets.
BCome on, that's not fair—Zelensky is being read in.
BWhich is exactly why Kyiv hears a substitute, not an add-on.
BBut sequence is policy. You put security architecture first, the war's outcome is secondary.
BI think you've got it backwards. Sequence is leverage.
BIf Russia wants a bigger table, it has to accept a verified ceasefire.
BThen say that in public. Europe's hearing something else—a Trump envoy dusting off a pre-2014 format while Ukraine bleeds.
BA former NATO official says it resembles earlier security discussions.
BThat's a warning. Those discussions didn't survive Crimea.
BThey were suspended because of Crimea. The question is whether you ever restart them.
BMaybe, but a ceasefire first is the only way it doesn't look like surrender.
BAnd if the ceasefire collapses because there's no parallel track, we're exactly where we started.
BThen let the Europeans lead that track, not a special envoy with a son-in-law's direct line.
BThat's a little personal.
BIt's structural. You want buy-in, you don't hand the plan to Moscow and Washington alone.
BI can concede one thing: the rollout is terrible.
BThe idea may be right, but the optics are a gift to Russian propaganda.
BThat's the Ukrainian line: "Peace in Ukraine and European security with Russia simultaneously." They see a trap.
BIt's only a trap if Europe and Kyiv aren't in the room.
BSo the real fight is who chairs it, not whether there's a table.
BThen we agree on the actual argument. Kyiv and Brussels have to co-chair, or it's dead.