Council on Foreign Relations urges Europe to play greater role in peace
By the AFREEQUE newsroom, based on Council on Foreign Relations
The Council on Foreign Relations says Europe will have to play a greater role in efforts to end the war between Russia and Ukraine. The organisation says talks will also have to address the European security order, after negotiations held in Abu Dhabi, according to its analysis published on 13 November.
The Council on Foreign Relations (CFR), a US think tank specialising in international affairs, is calling on European leaders to play a greater role in efforts to end the war between Russia and Ukraine. For the CFR, a settlement of the conflict will also have to address the European security order and will require a more unified European position, according to an analysis published on 13 November.
Trilateral talks between the United States, Russia and Ukraine in Abu Dhabi this week did not produce a breakthrough, but contacts between the parties are continuing. US envoys Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner met Russian President Vladimir Putin and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, according to the CFR.
The CFR says discussions on the European security architecture have raised concerns in several European capitals, where some leaders fear Moscow is seeking to weaken NATO’s position in eastern Europe or prolong the war. The analysis recalls that, before its full-scale invasion of Ukraine, Russia had made demands including an end to NATO’s eastward expansion, the deployment of long-range weapons in member countries and the withdrawal of NATO infrastructure.
The CFR considers that Europe can no longer permanently separate the settlement of the war from the broader question of its security. The analysis comes after five European countries will represent the EU at Ukraine talks, a decision announced on 13 November, and after US-mediated negotiations in Abu Dhabi, which began on 10 November.
