Rome, Mar 25, 2025, IANS

Rome, March 25 (IANS) The recent US-brokered Russia-Ukraine peace talks highlighted growing divisions between Washington and Brussels, bringing trans-Atlantic relations to a historic low, an Italian geopolitical analyst has said. Sergio Fabbrini, a political science professor at Rome's LUISS University, told Xinhua news agency that the exclusion of Europe from the talks underscores the EU's declining influence in resolving the Russia-Ukraine conflict, due in large part to the bloc's lack of unified foreign policy coordination. "This episode reveals the European Union's structural weakness," he said during a university conference on Monday. "Without a central authority to speak for all members, the bloc struggles to assert itself on the global stage, particularly when the US chooses to act unilaterally." This institutional fragmentation, he said, coincides with the skeptical view of US President Donald Trump's administration of the EU. The US president has repeatedly characterized the EU as "an institution designed to undermine American interests rather than bolster global security." Fabbrini emphasised the fundamental divergence in how both sides perceive the Ukraine crisis. "For Europe, this is an existential security threat happening on our doorstep. For Washington, it's a geopolitical calculation involving great powers," he said. The professor warned that the current tensions mark "one of the worst crises in trans-Atlantic history," urging Europe to develop more independent diplomatic capacity. "Geographical reality demands that Europe take greater responsibility for its own security architecture while maintaining equilibrium between national interests and collective European stability," he said. Meanwhile, a new round of US-Ukraine talks began Tuesday in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, local media Al Arabiya News reported, citing a Ukrainian official. The talks came after the US-Russia negotiations were held Monday regarding a ceasefire proposal between Kyiv and Moscow. The separate US-Russia and US-Ukraine negotiations addressed technical issues, including the protection of energy facilities and critical infrastructure, the fate of separated Ukrainian children, and a partial ceasefire. The US delegation discussed the Black Sea ceasefire and the end of strikes on energy infrastructure for 30 days with Russian and Ukrainian delegations in Riyadh respectively, Bloomberg reported on Tuesday.