US asks Russia to weigh NATO-style guarantees for Ukraine before Abu Dhabi talks

Washington asks Moscow for NATO-style guarantees

The United States has formally asked Russia to consider security guarantees for Ukraine as part of a peace deal to end the war. The guarantees would be modeled on Articles 4 and 5 of the North Atlantic Treaty, and two senior administration officials said NATO would extend the same commitments to Kyiv. Article 4 provides for consultations when a member's security, territorial integrity or political independence is at risk, while Article 5 treats an armed attack on one member as an attack on all. Officials said the proposal would be put to Moscow on Monday, 9 November, the first time Washington has made such a request after previously floating the idea. A US official speaking at a press telephone briefing said that what Ukraine would receive would in practice closely resemble NATO's own arrangements.

Talks in Abu Dhabi

Trilateral talks between the United States, Russia and Ukraine are scheduled to open on Tuesday, 10 November, in Abu Dhabi, with a second day planned for Wednesday, 11 November. The US official said Washington wants to widen the current three-party format and bring European states into the negotiations after the trilateral round. Talks would run on two parallel tracks, each meant to help resolve the other, and the American aim is a shift from the trilateral setting to a broader multilateral formula. The Associated Press reported that the Abu Dhabi discussions are expected to focus on security guarantees, with Ukraine and its allies weighing options close to NATO's Article 5. Volodymyr Zelenskyy has stressed that the key question is who would respond to a new Russian invasion, with what means and how quickly.

Europe and Russia's conditions

Some European countries had considered sending troops to Ukraine after any peace agreement, a scenario Russia has categorically rejected. Moscow has said it would treat foreign troops on Ukrainian territory as legitimate targets. European states maintain that Russia must first end its war against Ukraine before security talks on Europe can be considered. European officials worried about the United States negotiating over their heads are pressing for their own representatives to take part in the Abu Dhabi negotiations. The Washington Post noted that opening such a discussion could give the impression that the Trump administration backs the Kremlin's position, and that it risks giving Russia more influence over European security even though Moscow has undermined existing agreements by seeking to change borders by force.

What the Washington Post says

The Washington Post wrote on Monday that Russia had already achieved a strategic success, because Moscow pushed Washington to back a new framework for a broader European security architecture as part of a peace deal. The paper recalled that Vladimir Putin has long presented the 2022 invasion as a response to what he calls a threat from NATO's eastward expansion and alleged persecution of ethnic Russians in eastern Ukraine, claims the United States and its allies have rejected as untrue. Citing Western and Russian officials and analysts, the paper said that envoy Steve Witkoff and President Trump's son-in-law Jared Kushner appeared to be yielding to Moscow. It framed the talks as a sign of growing desperation in the Trump administration, which is trying to restart talks on Ukraine after months without progress while the United States is entangled in a war with Iran. It also placed the move against a Republican defeat in the congressional elections, saying the Abu Dhabi meeting gives Donald Trump his first chance to reassert his standing as a global player.