President Donald Trump’s effort to reach a deal with Russia over the war in Ukraine—and possibly Europe’s future security—has unsettled NATO allies. A former senior alliance commander says Vladimir Putin has long pushed for a world divided into rival spheres of influence.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has warned against a new arrangement resembling the 1945 Yalta Conference, while European governments weigh whether to engage Putin directly. The debate comes as delegations prepare for talks in Abu Dhabi on Nov. 10 and 11.
Retired Gen. Philip Breedlove, a former Supreme Allied Commander Europe, said Putin’s ambitions reach beyond Ukraine. “Putin has a plan for the world, and he has pushed that plan on leaders several times,” Breedlove said. “He talks about it and he writes about it.”
Trump said Thursday that a prospective agreement with Moscow could cover more than ending Russia’s war in Ukraine, which has lasted nearly five years.
“It’s going to be a big agreement, and it’s going to involve more than Ukraine,” Trump told reporters after meeting Russian presidential envoy Kirill Dmitriev at the White House. “I could even say it might involve all of Europe.” He added that he expected an agreement everyone would welcome.
Breedlove described Putin’s vision as three spheres of influence, with China dominant in the Far East, Russia in Europe and the United States in the Western Hemisphere. He said European countries were unlikely to cooperate with such a plan and were concerned because their security was directly at stake.
Zelenskyy said Friday that Ukraine must not be divided by Russia as Europe was after World War II. “We don’t want to have Yalta 2.0,” he said, calling such an outcome dangerous.
Secretary of State Marco Rubio said Sunday that discussions about Europe’s postwar future had come up repeatedly in conversations about negotiations. He suggested Trump was referring to progress on what the region’s security arrangements might look like after the conflict, while stressing that the fighting would first have to end.
Breedlove questioned whether Ukraine and European governments would accept a broad agreement reached without their participation. “We have always said nothing about Ukraine without Ukraine,” he said, adding that the EU and NATO were central to the issues under discussion, despite not being included in the conversations so far.
European diplomacy has also picked up. Finnish President Alexander Stubb and Norwegian Prime Minister Jonas Gahr Støre reportedly spoke with Putin for 90 minutes on Oct. 27. Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen criticized European leaders for acting separately, saying Europe should remain united rather than “going solo.”
Breedlove defended the calls, describing them as appropriate. He said European powers were increasingly worried that decisions about their security might be made without them.
French Foreign Minister Jean-Noël Barrot said France would take part in the Abu Dhabi discussions, adding that European countries would be represented.
Breedlove warned that any deal requiring Europe to weaken its own security to meet Russian demands would face strong opposition. He said Putin had not been a genuine partner for peace in Ukraine and argued that European countries and Ukraine would not accept a plan that allowed Russia to rebuild its forces and threaten neighboring states.
“We need to understand that we are in a war,” Breedlove said. “Mr. Putin is at war with the West.”
