The United States sent a questionnaire to European countries with questions about Ukraine

The United States has sent a questionnaire to European countries asking what contribution they can make in terms of security guarantees for Ukraine, Finnish President Alexander Stubb told Reuters on the sidelines of the Munich Security Conference.

Prior to that, the Financial Times newspaper reported that the United States this week asked Europe to submit detailed proposals on weapons, peacekeeping troops and security measures as part of security guarantees.

"The Americans provided Europeans with a questionnaire about what would be possible. This will make the Europeans think, and then the Europeans themselves decide whether to actually answer the questionnaire or they will answer it together," Stubb said.

A US State Department spokesman told Reuters that Washington "has made it clear that we expect European partners to take the lead in creating a strong security framework, and we look forward to their proposals."

"A strong, independent Europe meets both their interests and ours," he added.

"The idea, obviously, is to see how the European allies see a possible framework for negotiations aimed at ending the conflict, and the possible participation of Europe and The United States," a European diplomat familiar with the document told the agency.

It included six questions, one of which was addressed specifically to the EU member states, another diplomat said. Another Reuters interlocutor from among the diplomats noted that the United States is asking European countries "how many soldiers they are ready to deploy."

Next week, the tour of the special envoy of the US President for Ukraine, Keith Kellogg, will begin in European capitals. During the Munich Conference, he admitted that Europe would not be physically represented at the negotiations on the settlement of the conflict at the Ukraine, stressing that its interests will be taken into account.

"What we don't want to do is engage in a discussion with a large group of people," he added.

US President Donald Trump announced a meeting of high-ranking US representatives and Russia in Saudi Arabia next week, to which Ukraine is also invited. According to Bloomberg, these talks will discuss, among other things, Trump's meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin. In Kiev, they said that they did not send their delegates to the meeting, because "there is nothing on the table that could be discussed." According to Politico, European leaders were also not involved in the negotiations.

In Europe, they stated the need for its participation in the negotiations. German Defense Minister Boris Pistorius said that the exception The withdrawal of the EU from the negotiation process may become a "turning point" in relations between Brussels and Washington, after which "our roads threaten to go in different directions." Vladimir Zelensky also insisted on Europe's participation in the negotiations.

Against the background of the upcoming negotiations, the United States and Russia in the European Union will hold emergency meetings of foreign ministers and leaders of countries.