Europe Needs An Invitation To The Meeting About Europe

American envoys went to the Kremlin Thursday seeking momentum in Ukraine peace talks. One goal, Jared Kushner said, was getting Putin's blessing for European representatives to participate in negotiations involving Europe's security.

Europe. The location under discussion would like permission to attend the discussion. Perhaps it should submit a short biography explaining its connection to the subject.

The Associated Press reports that the U.S. and Volodymyr Zelenskyy want Europe to choose a single negotiator. Moscow opposes direct European participation, complaining that European funding and weapons for Ukraine obstruct a deal.

So Europe's governments are too involved to attend, but their security is sufficiently available to negotiate. That is an extraordinary guest policy. The venue has been invited; its occupants are under review.

Kushner and Steve Witkoff arrived after two days of talks in Abu Dhabi, the first direct Russian-Ukrainian discussions in nine months. Those talks produced an agreement on a large prisoner exchange, with the number still undecided, and no visible broader peace breakthrough.

An exchange matters enormously to the people who may come home. It is also not a peace settlement. Territorial demands and security guarantees remain unresolved, and fighting continues.

Some European governments are alarmed at the possibility of concessions on NATO's strategy. Possibility, not an announced deal. No agreement admitting Europe or settling those questions was reported in AP's Thursday-morning update.

Negotiation involves difficult compromises. Fine. That's why people hire negotiators instead of solving a war with the seating chart.

But the premise here deserves a moment. European countries fear Russia's intentions, and American negotiators are asking Russia to approve their participation in discussing those fears.

First item on the security agenda: whether the people concerned are allowed through security.