Trump's Russia Deal Talk Alarms NATO Allies, as Ex-Commander Warns of Putin's Spheres-of-Influence Plan

Standing with reporters after a White House meeting with Russian presidential envoy Kirill Dmitriev, President Donald Trump said the agreement he is pursuing with Moscow would reach well past Ukraine. "It's going to involve more than Ukraine," he said, adding that it might involve "all of Europe." He called it a "big, beautiful agreement" that would leave everyone thrilled. The remarks came on a Thursday, and they have since unsettled NATO allies.

One of the voices of alarm belongs to retired Gen. Philip Breedlove, a former Supreme Allied Commander Europe, who spoke to Fox News Digital. His argument is that Vladimir Putin has a long-stated design for the world and has pressed it on leaders more than once. "He talks about it and he writes about it," Breedlove said. In his description, the design is three spheres of influence: China controlling the Far East, Russia controlling Europe, and America controlling the Western Hemisphere. He does not expect much cooperation from European countries, and says the Western world is waiting to see the plan and is deeply concerned "because it is about them."

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy raised a historical comparison. Speaking to CNN on Friday, he warned against what he called a "Yalta 2.0," a reference to the 1945 conference where Allied leaders negotiated Europe's postwar order before the Soviet Union consolidated control over Eastern Europe. "We don't want to be divided by Russia," he said, adding that the prospect is "not simple" and "can be dangerous."

On Sunday, Secretary of State Marco Rubio tried to explain what Trump meant. Before leaving for the G7 meeting in Paris, he told reporters that the shape of Europe after the war has come up repeatedly in every conversation about negotiations. In his reading, the president was alluding to advances on what that post-conflict architecture could look like. He also acknowledged the obvious limit: the conflict has to be gotten past before that point is reached.

Breedlove questioned whether Europe and Ukraine would accept anything worked out without them. When the details emerge, he said, some European partners, Ukraine included, "may or may not be enthralled." He recalled the principle of "nothing about Ukraine without Ukraine" and noted that he has heard nothing about the EU or NATO having a seat in the conversation, even though they are, in his words, central to the matter.

European diplomacy has not been uniform. On Oct. 27, Finnish President Alexander Stubb and Norwegian Prime Minister Jonas Gahr Støre held a rare 90-minute telephone call with Putin, according to reports. Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen criticized such separate initiatives: "Europe should stick together rather than going solo." Breedlove defended the calls, calling them "entirely appropriate" and saying Europe's great powers are growing concerned that someone is dealing with their security without including them.

Delegations are preparing for talks in Abu Dhabi on Nov. 10-11. French Foreign Minister Jean-Noël Barrot confirmed Sunday, as reported by Reuters, that France will take part, saying the Europeans "will be well represented."

Breedlove's warning about the terms was blunt. If Russia's maximalist demands stand, and peace requires the rest of Europe to sacrifice its security and become more open to Russian attack, "this is not going to go well." He said Putin has never been, and is not now, a partner for peace in Ukraine, and that the EU, NATO and Ukraine will not sign onto a plan letting Russia rebuild its armies and march across borders. "Mr. Putin is at war with the West," he said.

What to watch is Abu Dhabi: who sits at the table, and whether the broader European arrangement Trump hinted at turns out to be anything more than talk of architecture after a war that is still being fought.