Raik says US proposal concedes ground to Russia

US experts say the administration’s proposal to link a Ukraine peace deal with European security talks amounts to a concession to Russia, ERR reported. They also say the Baltic states need Europe to present a united position, but it is unclear who would represent the continent in negotiations.

Kristi Raik, director of the International Centre for Defence and Security, said linking the issues was what Russia had long sought. Europe’s position, she said, has been that the war in Ukraine must end before changes to European security structures are discussed. Russia, by contrast, wants veto power over matters concerning Europe.

Raik said it was unrealistic to expect the Baltic states to be represented directly in the talks. Instead, they should work to ensure Europe is represented as united as possible and speaks with a common position.

Holger Mölder, an associate professor at a university of technology, said plans from across the Atlantic had previously been presented with striking adjectives, comparing the approach to a family business advertising its products. He said US diplomacy appeared to be run like a private company, with Trump’s business partners and the Kushner and Witkoff families involved. Mölder said the arrangement reminded him of mafia films and the criminal world.