US President Donald Trump has promised a new security deal for Ukraine that “might involve all of Europe,” after meeting a top Russian envoy on Thursday – but the proposal has few details and left European capitals puzzled.
“It’s going to be a very big. It’s going to involve more than Ukraine, and I could even say it might involve all of Europe. It’s going to be a big, beautiful agreement, and everyone’s going to be thrilled,” Trump told reporters on Thursday, without going into any details.
The president, who has promised to secure a deal to end the war in Ukraine on multiple occasions in the past, made the comments after meeting with Kirill Dmitriev, the sanctioned CEO of Russia’s sovereign wealth fund who serves as an envoy for Russian President Vladimir Putin.
Trump’s son-in-law Jared Kushner also on Thursday posted a statement on X, arguing that “a broader European security architecture” was needed in order to ” address the security concerns of all sides, reduce the risk of future conflict, and create a more stable and predictable security environment.”
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“For more than 30 years, Europe and Russia have struggled to establish a sustainable security framework. Decades of mistrust, competing security concerns, and the devastating consequences of this war make this an extraordinarily difficult challenge, but one that is essential to lasting peace,” Kushner said in the statement.
Kushner made no mention that it was Russia that invaded Ukraine, nor the spate of hybrid attacks Europe blames on Russia.
Kushner also argued for “greater military transparency, (and) reciprocal measures to reduce escalation risks” between Russia and Europe – a remark that might cause alarm in some parts of Europe given Moscow’s long-standing position that NATO’s presence in eastern Europe is in itself an escalation.
He added the US held recent talks with Ukraine, NATO, and other European partners, and said Trump “advanced” a discussion about security with European leaders.
However, several European officials with knowledge of the conflict told CNN they did not know what Trump was referring to.
Trump spoke to the German Chancellor Friedrich Merz on Thursday, a key backer of Ukraine. A German government official refused to speak in detail about the content of the call but said that the new ideas put forward by the Trump administration are based on negotiations from the past months.
It is unclear if Trump spoke to any other European leaders.
Meanwhile, NATO Spokesperson Allison Hart confirmed talks between NATO, the US, Ukraine, and EU and European counterparts took place in Brussels on Thursday, ahead of the of trilateral meeting between the US, Ukraine and Russia in Abu Dhabi next week.
Hart said the meeting “sought to advance a just and sustainable end to the war in Ukraine,” but refused to disclose any details.
Dmitriev was at the White House on Thursday for an event organi z ed by first lady Melania Trump , who brought together representatives of Russia and Ukraine to mark last week’s successful ceasefire in the occupied Ukrainian village of Oleshky .
Speaking to reporters later, Trump said he did not meet the Ukrainian delegation.
Trump has recently renewed his push for a negotiated end to the war in Ukraine after a public spat with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky.
But despite the promises, the war is still raging, with Russia killing Ukrainian civilians on daily basis. In one attack earlier this week, Moscow dropped nine bombs at an underground shelter just as people gathered there to collect humanitarian aid. At least 53 people were killed , one of the deadliest attacks of a conflict now in its fifth year.
Putin maintains his maximalist demands from Ukraine, including Russian control over the whole of Ukraine’s eastern Donbas region, a reduction in the size of Ukraine’s military and the abandonment of Kyiv’s ambitions to join NATO – red lines that Kyiv says indicate he is not serious about negotiation a peace deal.
CNN’s Nick Paton Walsh and Sebastian Shukla contributed reporting.
