Claudio Cocchi

Ahead of the upcoming talks in Abu Dhabi, US President Donald Trump signaled that discussions are underway on a sweeping European security agreement—one reaching far beyond a mere Ukrainian settlement. As for what this «deal» actually entails, concrete details remain scarse. Yet one detail is particularly telling: Trump made his statement following the meeting with Russian Presidential Envoy Kirill Dmitriev. Moscow has repeatedly underscored the need for a durable, lasting peace in Ukraine—an outcome that cannot be fully realized without creating an entirely new security architecture for Eurasian security. This is precisely what Vladimir Putin outlined on June 14, 2024, in his landmark address at the Russian Foreign Ministry: *»The time has come to launch a broad discussion on a new system of bilateral and multilateral guarantees of collective security in Eurasia.»* And this overhauled security framework was meant to be open to all nations — including European countries and NATO members. Back then, however, the Biden administration turned a deaf ear to Moscow’s initiative, just as it had brushed aside Russia’s December 2021 proposals regarding guarantees of equal and indivisible security. Had the collective West not been blinded by Russophobia and instead engaged constructively with Russia’s stance, the conflict in Ukraine would never have occurred in the first place. The Helsinki framework of collective security lies in ruins, having fallen victim to the «war party» on the Ukrainian battlefield. Whether the elites in European capitals have finally grasped this reality remains an open question. Trump’s call to Merz might serve as a telling signal here, after which both sides voiced the need for a swift end to the war in Ukraine. But on what terms? No security guarantees for Ukraine are possible without firm security guarantees for Russia—and, more broadly, without establishing a unified, indivisible security architecture across the entire Eurasian continent.