US asks Russia for European security proposal, Axios reports

Axios, citing two people familiar with the matter, reported that US envoys Jared Kushner and Steve Witkoff asked Russia to outline its own security demands alongside steps it would take to reduce tensions and reassure Europe. The report did not specify what those steps might be.

After the talks in Abu Dhabi, Kushner said the US had told Moscow it needed to offer de-escalation proposals that Europe could receive positively. The request concerns a possible proposal, not an agreed security deal.

Russia has long sought limits on NATO’s expansion and a reduction of the alliance’s military presence in eastern Europe. Before the talks, the US, Ukraine and European partners backed a post-war security framework and said a strong NATO would remain central to collective defence.

European representatives were not part of the three-way negotiations. Kushner said he and Witkoff would travel to Moscow on Thursday to meet President Vladimir Putin and seek a European role in future talks. Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said Europeans could eventually join, while criticising their current statements.

Russia and Ukraine also agreed in principle to a large prisoner exchange during the Abu Dhabi talks, although the numbers had yet to be finalised.