President Donald Trump’s push for a deal with Russia to end the war in Ukraine and potentially reshape European security has raised alarm among NATO allies, with a former top alliance commander warning Fox News Digital that President Vladimir Putin has long sought to divide the world into competing spheres of influence.
The warning came as President Volodymyr Zelenskyy also appeared to reject what he called a potential “Yalta 2.0,” and NATO allies debated direct outreach to Putin ahead of delegations preparing for talks in Abu Dhabi on Nov. 10-11.
Retired Gen. Philip Breedlove, the former Supreme Allied Commander Europe, warned that Putin’s ambitions extend far beyond Ukraine and reflect a broader vision for how global powers should divide influence.
“Putin has a plan for the world, and he has pushed that plan on leaders several times,” Breedlove warned before adding: “He talks about it and he writes about it.”
Trump had suggested Thursday that an agreement with Moscow could extend beyond ending Russia’s nearly five-year war in Ukraine.
“It’s going to be a big agreement, and it’s going to involve more than Ukraine… I could even say it might involve all of Europe,” Trump told reporters after meeting Russian presidential envoy Kirill Dmitriev at the White House.
“It’s going to be a big, beautiful agreement, and everyone’s going to be thrilled,” Trump added.
Breedlove said Putin has repeatedly promoted a vision of dividing global power among Russia, China and the United States.
“The plan is three spheres of influence whereby China controls the Far East, Russia controls Europe, and America controls the Western Hemisphere. I do not expect there’s going to be a lot of cooperation from the countries of Europe,” he said.
“The Western world is waiting to see what this big plan is, and they are very concerned because it is about them,” Breedlove added.
Zelenskyy also warned Friday against repeating the 1945 Yalta Conference, where Allied leaders negotiated Europe’s postwar order before the Soviet Union consolidated control over Eastern Europe.
“We don’t want to have Yalta 2.0,” the Ukrainian leader told CNN. “We don’t want to be divided by Russia,” he said before adding: “For me, it’s not simple and it can be dangerous.”
On Sunday, Secretary of State Marco Rubio told reporters that discussions on how Europe would look after the Ukraine war were already underway.
“It’s one of the key topics that’s been raised repeatedly in every conversation, anytime negotiations have been discussed,” he said ahead of traveling to Paris for the G7 meeting.
“So I think that’s what the president is alluding to, is that there’s been some advances made and what that architecture could look like post-conflict. We obviously have to get past the conflict to get to that point,” he added, clarifying Trump’s comments.
Breedlove, however, questioned whether European governments and Ukraine would even accept a broader agreement negotiated without their involvement.
“I do expect that when we get a peek under the hood of what Mr. Putin and Mr. Trump have devised that there may be European partners and allies to include Ukraine that may or may not be enthralled with the proposed solution.”
“We have always said nothing about Ukraine without Ukraine,” the expert said.
“Neither have we heard anything about the EU or NATO being in this conversation. And yet the EU, NATO and Ukraine are central and the heart of the matter that apparently is going to be discussed.”
Tensions also appeared to mount further after Finnish President Alexander Stubb and Norwegian Prime Minister Jonas Gahr Støre held a rare 90-minute telephone conversation with Putin on Oct. 27, according to reports.
Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen criticized the separate European diplomatic initiatives.
“I think Europe should stick together rather than going solo,” she said as Breedlove went on to defend the outreach.
“The two calls that recently took place between Northern leaders in the NATO alliance and Russia, I don’t think that they’re out of place at all,” he said. “I think they’re entirely appropriate.”
“The great powers of Europe are getting very concerned that someone is dealing with their security without including them in the conversation,” he added.
Meanwhile, French Foreign Minister Jean-Noël Barrot confirmed Sunday that France would participate in the Abu Dhabi negotiations.
“The Europeans will be well represented; France will be in Abu Dhabi to take part in these discussions,” Barrot said, according to Reuters.
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Breedlove warned that any agreement requiring European nations to sacrifice their security to satisfy Moscow would still face fierce resistance.
“If the maximalist demands of Russia remain intact and in order to find peace, all the rest of Europe has to give up its security, sacrifice its security, make itself more susceptible to Russian attack, then this is not going to go well,” he said.
“Putin has never been a partner for peace in Ukraine. Putin is not now a partner for peace in Ukraine.”
“The EU nations, the NATO nations, and Ukraine are not going to sign up to a plan that suggests that Russia will be able to once again amass its armies, march across borders and intervene in its neighbors’ internal business.”
“We need to understand that we are in a war. Mr. Putin is at war with the West,” he warned.