We don’t know whether the talks begun last week between the U.S. and Russia on the war in Ukraine will result in an agreement. The scope of the talks remains unclear. While Ukraine was a central focus, they also apparently encompassed efforts to improve bilateral ties between Washington and Moscow. We still don’t know whether they will eventually extend to broader questions of European security.
What is clear, however, is the imperialist nature of these negotiations. For that reason alone, Europeans should distance themselves from the process. But that won’t be enough to secure Kyiv’s and Europe’s interests moving forward.
The imperialist nature of the talks is inherent in their very structure. They are being conducted by leaders who view their states as great powers enjoying broad privileges, while excluding smaller nations, which are treated as objects rather than subjects. U.S. President Donald Trump’s dismissal of Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy—who complained of Kyiv’s absence from the talks—as “not very important” and his subsequent call for Zelenskyy’s removal exemplify this approach. For the past three years, the West’s mantra with regard to any potential peace negotiations was “Nothing about Ukraine without Ukraine.” These negotiations are a clear disavowal of that formula.