The US military operation against Venezuelan alleged drug traffickers coupled with threats by Donald Trump for a ground assault against President Nicolas Maduro have troubled European powers who retain strategically located territories in the Caribbean, observers say.The concern of France, the Netherlands and the UK is such that they have started limiting intelligence sharing with Washington about the Caribbean over worries it could be used for strikes that would be considered illegal in their countries, according to officials and sources who spoke to AFP.The UK retains small overseas territories in the Caribbean from the colonial era, while the large islands of Martinique and Guadeloupe as well as French Guiana on the South American mainland are now officially part of France.The Netherlands is the most geographically implicated, with three islands off the coast of Venezuela dubbed the ABC — Aruba, Bonaire and Curacao — all part of the kingdom.Venezuela has accused Washington of seeking regime change in Caracas with its military build-up, including an aircraft carrier group, warships and several stealth jets.Washington accuses Maduro of leading a “terrorist” drug cartel, a charge he denies. Since September, US forces have killed at least 83 people via air strikes on boats accused of ferrying drugs in international waters, according to an AFP tally of publicly released figures.The United States has released no details to back up its claims that the people targeted in both the Caribbean and eastern Pacific in the more than 20 strikes were traffickers.Trump has said he believes Maduro’s days were numbered and on Monday refused to rule out boots on the ground while adding he was open to talks with the leftist leader.”The Dutch are concerned about their ABC islands… located about 50 kilometres (31 miles) off the coast of Venezuela,” a French military official said, asking not to be named.They “would find themselves on the front line” in the event of war, a European military source added, also asking not to be named as they were not authorised to speak on the record.- ‘Not currently giving intelligence’ -With few options in the face of Trump’s resolve, these three countries have decided to stop sharing certain intelligence with Washington, multiple sources said.”We are particularly vigilant regarding the politicisation of our services and human rights violations,” Erik Akerboom, director of the Dutch civilian intelligence and counterintelligence service, told the newspaper De Volkskrant.”No European country, France included, will send operational intelligence to the Americans in the current situation if they could use it as a basis for a military strike on a ship,” a senior French police official, Dimitri Zoulas, head of the OFAST anti-drug service, told Radio Caraibes (RCI).This position has not been publicly confirmed by French authorities. But a security source said: “It is 100 percent clear that Europeans are not currently giving any intelligence to the United States that could lead to a strike.”In the UK, the Times reported that attorney general Richard Hermer, the government’s top legal advisor, told ministers to cut off intelligence sharing over fears Trump could “assassinate” drug dealers in the Caribbean.US Secretary of State Marco Rubio earlier this month dismissed reports the UK had stopped sharing such intelligence as “fake news”.- ‘Not a fundamental change’ -Richard Dearlove, former head of the British MI6 foreign intelligence service, told AFP the situation was not unique and avoided Europeans being complicit in an action that was perhaps legal in an American jurisdiction but not in their countries.”It doesn’t affect the overall intelligence exchange. It’s a local and a specific issue. And it’s occurred before in my experience,” he said.Europeans are aware of the risk of antagonising the Trump administration.”Before saying no to the United States and making it known, we have to think twice, because they provide a lot” of information to their allies, said a source from a European intelligence service.But the Europeans’ contribution to American intelligence work in the field is very limited, said a former US military officer who worked in counter-narcotics operations in the region.The Europeans’ restraint has a “theoretical” effect because the United States doesn’t need the information, according to the French security source.Dearlove insisted that as it is “strictly speaking a legal problem” this should not affect the wider picture of transatlantic intelligence sharing.”The CIA understands this extremely well. It’s a well known area which is sometimes problematic but it does not indicate a fundamental change in the intelligence relationship,” he said.

Washington signalled room for negotiation on a US plan to end the Ukraine war that has drawn pushback from Kyiv, its allies and US lawmakers ahead of Sunday talks on the proposal in Switzerland.Trump has given Ukraine until November 27 to approve the plan to end the nearly four-year conflict, but Kyiv is seeking changes to a draft that accepts some of Russia’s hardline demands.Washington insisted Saturday the proposal was official US policy, denying claims by a group of US senators that Secretary of State Marco Rubio told them the document was a Russian “wish list”.The 28-point plan would require the invaded country to cede territory, cut its army and pledge never to join NATO. Trump told reporters Saturday it was not his final offer and he hoped to stop the fighting “one way or the other”.Trump’s special envoy for Ukraine, Keith Kellogg, speaking on Fox News, described the plan as “a work in progress”.Ukraine’s European allies, who were not included in drafting the proposal, said the plan requires “additional work” as they scrambled at the G20 summit in South Africa to come up with a counter-offer to strengthen Kyiv’s position.A US official told AFP that Rubio and diplomatic envoy Steve Witkoff would land in Geneva on Sunday for the talks and that US Army Secretary Daniel Driscoll had already arrived after meeting Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky in Kyiv.”The peace proposal was authored by the US,” Rubio wrote on social media late Saturday.”It is offered as a strong framework for ongoing negotiations. It is based on input from the Russian side. But it is also based on previous and ongoing input from Ukraine.”- Russian ‘representatives’ expected -Zelensky has issued a decree naming Ukraine’s delegation for the talks, led by his top aide Andriy Yermak.It also says the negotiations would include “representatives of the Russian Federation” but there was no immediate confirmation from Moscow whether it would join the talks.Zelensky said “consultations will take place with partners regarding the steps needed to end the war”.”Our representatives know how to defend Ukraine’s national interests and what is necessary to prevent Russia from launching a third invasion,” having annexed Crimea in 2014 and mounted a full-scale offensive in 2022, he said.Britain’s Prime Minister Keir Starmer said the senior officials would meet in Geneva “to take things further forward”, stressing the importance of solid “security guarantees” for Ukraine under any settlement.”The focus very much now is on Geneva tomorrow and whether we can make progress,” he told reporters on the sidelines of the G20 summit in Johannesburg.Starmer said his national security adviser, Jonathan Powell, would be in Geneva. Italian diplomatic sources said Rome was sending national security advisor Fabrizio Saggio.Security officials from the EU, France and Germany will also attend, French President Emmanuel Macron told a news conference at the G20.- West says plan needs more ‘work’ -Western leaders at the G20 summit said that the US plan was “a basis which will require additional work”.”We are clear on the principle that borders must not be changed by force. We are also concerned by the proposed limitations on Ukraine’s armed forces, which would leave Ukraine vulnerable to future attack,” the leaders of key European countries, Canada and Japan said in a joint statement.Macron said the plan contained points that had to be more broadly discussed as they concerned European allies, such as Ukraine’s NATO ties and Russian frozen assets held in the EU.”We all want peace and we are agreed. We want the peace to be strong and lasting,” he said, insisting a settlement must “take into account the security of all Europeans”.Zelensky said in an address to the nation on Friday that Ukraine faces one of the most challenging moments in its history, adding that he would propose “alternatives” to Trump’s plan.”The pressure on Ukraine is one of the hardest. Ukraine may face a very difficult choice: either the loss of dignity or the risk of losing a key partner,” Zelensky said, referring to a possible break with Washington.Russian President Vladimir Putin said the blueprint could “lay the foundation” for a final peace settlement, but threatened more land seizures if Ukraine walked away from negotiations.