World

EU Stresses Extensive Effort Needed for Ukraine Peace Deal

By AFP

The European Union said on Friday, November 6, 2026, that a lot of work remains to achieve peace in Ukraine and that the bloc will decide on its own security matters. The statement came after U.S. President Donald Trump, on Thursday, November 5, 2026, suggested a “very big” deal with Russia that would involve not only the Ukraine war but “all of Europe.” Trump’s remarks were likely to raise concerns on the continent about a possible pivot toward the Kremlin.

EU spokeswoman Paula Pinho said, “We all wish that we will have a peace deal soon. We are all working in that regard,” adding that “there is a lot of work that needs to go into it, and above all, there needs to be a willingness on the side of the one who first started the war.” She also noted that it is “obviously up to the European Union to decide on matters which affect its security.”

A NATO spokeswoman said that Ukraine’s allies are working toward a “just and sustainable” end to the war ahead of U.S.-mediated talks next week in Abu Dhabi. She added that talks in Brussels on Thursday involved U.S., Ukrainian, European, and NATO officials and “built on productive discussions in Miami and Oslo and sought to advance a just and sustainable end to the war in Ukraine.”

After joining the Brussels talks by video link, Jared Kushner, the President’s envoy and son‑in‑law, wrote that the United States is working on “a broader European security architecture that can help establish the conditions for lasting peace.” Kushner said Washington’s objective is to develop practical arrangements that address the security concerns of all sides, insisting that any arrangements must fully respect the sovereignty, territorial integrity, and independent decision‑making of every nation and that NATO would “remain central to European collective defence.”

The U.S. push is expected to unsettle Washington’s European allies, who have long rejected Moscow’s desire to rewrite the European security architecture. Before the war in Ukraine began in 2022, the Kremlin issued an ultimatum to NATO demanding the withdrawal of alliance troops from eastern Europe, a demand that was rejected by the Western military alliance. Europe has meanwhile been seeking to play a larger role in the U.S.-led effort to end the fighting. Kushner said Washington would “consult closely with our European partners on the sidelines” of the Abu Dhabi talks and, if progress is made, aim to move toward a broader multilateral format with their direct participation.