Europe seeks to derail US-Russian peace negotiations over Ukraine, leading expert says

New Delhi, Aug 14 Citing the strongly-worded statement issued by the European leaders a few days ago reiterating their continued substantive military and financial support to Ukraine, as well as more sanctions on Russia, distinguished Indian diplomat and former Foreign Secretary of India Kanwal Sibal on Thursday said that Europe seeks to derail as much as possible the US-Russian peace negotiations over Ukraine.

"They have made Ukraine's security an issue vital to Europe's own security. Europe has unconditionally adopted the Ukrainian position on Russia as its own. Their rhetoric about not changing international borders by force or Russia's violation of the UN Charter sounds hollow in the light of their own record. Be that as it may, the short point is the inherent contradiction in their position in that they want to be part of the US-Russia dialogue even while they strongly oppose it," the seasoned diplomat wrote in India Narrative ahead of the much-anticipated meeting between US President Donald Trump and his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin in Alaska on Friday.

Europe, he stated, is "livid" at being excluded from the US-Russian peace negotiations on Ukraine as, for it, the issue is one of European security and therefore it must be consulted.

"For (Ukrainian President) Zelensky, security guarantees are a code word for NATO membership or some form of guarantee by NATO countries. Already, individual European countries such as France, Germany, Italy, the UK, Denmark, Poland, and others have signed security agreements with Ukraine. These agreements, some lasting 10 years, outline commitments to provide security and military assistance to Ukraine in the face of potential future Russian aggression. However, without the US backing them, these guarantees are not really meaningful, as these countries are in no position to enter into a direct conflict with Russia on their own," believes the former Ambassador to Turkey, Egypt, France and Russia.

He mentioned that the world would be watching with great interest the outcome of the Trump-Putin meeting in Alaska.

"Normally, such meetings at the summit level are carefully prepared to ensure positive outcomes. Trump’s envoy Steve Witkoff has had more than one meeting in Moscow with Putin, with the most recent one achieving some breakthrough. The Russian side made it known that the latest US proposal was acceptable. This has paved the way for the Alaska summit," he wrote.

"While the Russian side has refrained from publicly talking about the US proposals, Trump himself, as is his wont, has been talkative about aspects of what to expect at Alaska. He has mentioned some exchange of territories between Russia and Ukraine as part of an eventual solution. Russia will withdraw from some Ukrainian territory it has occupied in Sumy, Kharkiv, and the Dnipropetrovsk region in exchange for Ukraine withdrawing from Donbass, while the battle lines in Zaporizhzhia and Kherson will be frozen. Whether this is kite-flying or deliberate leaks to prepare public opinion is unclear," he added.

Sibal, who currently serves as the Chancellor of Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU) in New Delhi, opined that the anti-Trump Western politicians and foreign relations experts are calling the meeting in Alaska, on US soil, a diplomatic success for Putin.

"He has, in their view, obtained acceptability and, indeed, an equality of status with the US President. This is a far cry from being declared a war criminal. For both sides, the issues to be discussed go beyond Ukraine. Witkoff has been discussing broader issues of an economic nature. Nuclear disarmament issues are important because the New Start Treaty expires in February 2026 and both sides would prefer to renew it to avoid a new arms race. US commentators believe Trump wants to wean Russia away from China so that America can focus primarily on the threat from China. These are issues that go beyond US-Europe ties," he wrote in India Narrative.

India, he spotlighted, has welcomed the projected Trump-Putin dialogue while reiterating Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s dictum that "this is not an era of war".

"If some understanding is reached in Alaska and there is some unfreezing of US-Russia ties, then Trump's decision to impose an additional penalty of 25 per cent tariffs on India for its energy and defence ties with Russia would lose its rationale," Sibal concluded.

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