NATO allies gather in Brussels after inconclusive Ukraine peace talks in Moscow

Almost all of NATO’s foreign ministers gathered in Brussels on Wednesday, a day after inconclusive Ukraine peace talks between the United States and President Vladimir Putin, and as European officials struggled for a seat at the negotiating table.

NATO Secretary-General Mark Rutte said that despite the absence of Secretary of State Marco Rubio — believed to be the first time in 22 years that America’s top diplomat did not attend a ministerial gathering of this kind — he remained «very much involved» in the process.

Rutte said he was in “constant contact” with Rubio, adding: “I would not read anything in it.”

The State Department said Monday that Deputy Secretary of State Christopher Landau would attend instead of Rubio.

Rutte said Tuesday when it comes to the NATO elements of any peace deal “that will be dealt with separately, and that obviously will include NATO.”

Some European nations have expressed extreme disquiet at being apparently sidelined in talks. European leaders were also blindsided by President Donald Trump’s 28-point plan last month, which was seen as leaving not just Ukraine, but also the whole continent vulnerable.

Despite Rutte’s conciliatory comments, Rubio’s absence from the summit was «unusual,» according to William Alberque, NATO’s former arms control director. The last time he could remember such an absence was Colin Powell in 2003, attributed to the start of the U.S.-led invasion of Iraq.

When asked why Rubio would not meet with NATO allies, especially during these ongoing Ukraine war negotiations, a senior State Department official told NBC News that he «has already attended dozens of meetings with NATO allies and it would be completely impractical to expect him at every meeting.»

Despite being sidelined in discussions between Moscow and Washington, European leaders could still have «a direct impact on the talks» and «continue to guide the process,» Alberque said.

He added, «it may seem that the Europeans are powerless in the face of Trump’s style of leadership,» but «we already have seen the so-called ‘peace plan’ change radically over the past days, with Ukrainian and European concerns increasingly reflected.»

Before meeting with Trump’s special envoy Steve Witkoff and the president’s son-in-law Jared Kushner on Tuesday, Putin launched into a tirade against Europe, criticizing European leaders for hindering Trump’s peace efforts from which, he said, Europe has removed itself. Russia has no intention of going to war with European countries, he told reporters, but if Europe starts a war, there can be no doubt about Russia’s readiness to respond “right now.”

There was no real expectation of a breakthrough heading into the talks in Moscow, as the Kremlin did not show any intention of easing off on its hard-line demands.

Still, Moscow called the five-hour conversation “useful” and said some points could be agreed on, while others were viewed “negatively” by Putin. The parties also discussed the issue of territories — a key and very sensitive point for Ukraine — and that some American proposals on that looked “more or less acceptable” to the Kremlin. Spokesperson Dmitry Peskov said Wednesday the talks were the first such “direct exchange of opinions,” adding that Putin did not reject the U.S. plan.

NATO leaders backed Ukraine after Russia’s full-scale invasion in 2022 but, with Russian boots on the ground, have been hesitant to let Ukraine in — an aspiration that Kyiv has harbored for years as a deterrent against future Russian attacks. While the U.S. leads the alliance, NATO, like the rest of Europe, has been consistently left on the curb of the peace process, showing widening cracks in its unity.

The original 28-point peace plan would bar Kyiv from ever joining NATO, and the alliance would agree not to station its troops in Ukraine. It would effectively reward the aggressor with territory in exchange for a weakly-defined promise for Russia to not invade Ukraine or neighboring countries.

It’s unclear if Witkoff and Kushner will attempt to meet with the Ukrainian side next. American officials met with the Ukrainian delegations in Switzerland and Florida over the last two weeks.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said after the talks Tuesday that there will be “no simple solutions to ending the war.” In a statement on X, he called for transparency and “that there are no games played behind Ukraine’s back.”

He said Wednesday they will brief their European colleagues on what is known following the Moscow talks and «discuss the European component of the necessary security architecture,» while preparing for a meeting with Trump’s envoys in the U.S.