European leaders stood by Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky on Monday evening, amid hopes that they could finally make progress that would allow Ukraine to access billions of pounds of frozen Russian assets, the British newspaper "The Guardian" reports today.
A meeting between Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and British Prime Minister Keir Starmer, French President Emmanuel Macron, and German Chancellor Friedrich Merz on the latest proposed peace plan for Ukraine concluded last night in London.
Despite vocal support for the Ukrainian president, who is under strong pressure from United States President Donald Trump to cede territory to end the war quickly, no agreement has been reached on the sensitive issue of converting frozen assets into loans for Kiev, according to the Guardian.
Downing Street, the British Prime Minister's residence, announced that "positive progress" had been made on the issue during crisis talks at the residence of British Prime Minister Keir Starmer, which were attended by Zelensky, French President Emmanuel Macron and German Chancellor Friedrich Merz.
They were joined by video call by the leaders of seven other European countries, the High Representative of Turkey, as well as the leaders of NATO and the European Union (EU).
During the meeting, the leaders "stressed the need for a just and lasting peace in Ukraine," including "robust security guarantees" against further Russian aggression, Downing Street said.
The leaders agreed that "now is a crucial moment" for Ukraine and pledged to step up support for Kiev and increase economic pressure on Moscow "to end this barbaric war."
This wave of European support followed sharp criticism from Trump, who said he was "a little disappointed" with Zelensky, claiming that he had not read the US proposal for a peace deal. Trump insisted, without evidence, that "his (Ukrainian) people love it" and that Russian President Vladimir Putin was "happy with that proposal."
The talks follow US efforts to push through a peace deal that have sparked widespread concern, as many critics see it as pandering to views espoused by Russia.
Downing Street is hoping for a breakthrough in reaching an agreement to seize billions in Russian state assets held in European banks and direct them to Ukraine.
The British Prime Minister's Office said Monday's talks had brought "positive progress" in a long-standing effort to "use frozen Russian sovereign assets to support the reconstruction of Ukraine."
More than £180 billion of Russian assets have been frozen in European banks and financial institutions since Putin launched his all-out invasion of Ukraine in 2022, according to the Guardian.
EU leaders will meet on December 18 and 19 in a bid to approve a long-awaited European Commission proposal to channel £78 billion of frozen assets into a "reparation loan" that Kiev would receive next year.
This unprecedented proposal is based on the idea that Moscow would one day pay Kiev reparations for the massive damage caused by the war. Kiev would then use the reparations from Moscow to repay the EU loan, ensuring that the financial institutions holding the assets get their money back.
Although most EU countries support the plan, it faces strong resistance from Belgium. Around £160 billion of Russian assets are blocked at Euroclear, the central securities depository in Brussels, and the Belgian government is concerned that it will be held liable for any seizure and face retaliation from Moscow.
The UK is ready to release £8 billion in assets frozen in that country to support Ukraine, but wants to do so in coordination with other European countries.
Starmer is due to discuss the issue with his Belgian counterpart, Bart de Wever, who is under pressure from other EU leaders, on Friday. A spokesman for the Belgian prime minister said he would meet Starmer in Downing Street to discuss "priorities such as migration, support for Ukraine, European security and shared economic growth."
The meeting will come a week after Merz traveled to Brussels in an attempt to convince de Wever to drop his opposition to the reparation loan plan.
British, French, German and Ukrainian national security advisers have been ordered to continue talks this week on a peace plan proposed by the US.
Zelensky, who warned that his country "cannot survive" without European and American support, said the talks had been productive and that "some progress towards peace" had been made. He said that Ukraine and Europe's plans for a peace agreement should be ready by tomorrow to be shared with the United States.
US officials claim they are in the final stages of reaching an agreement, but there is little indication that either Ukraine or Russia are ready to sign the existing framework agreement prepared by Trump's negotiating team.
Among the key points of contention is Russia's demand that Ukraine cede large swaths of territory in exchange for peace, but Zelensky said Kiev has neither the legal nor the moral right to do so.
"Russia insists that we give up territories, but we don't want to agree to anything. There are difficult problems regarding territories and no compromise has been reached so far," Zelensky said at a press conference.
British Foreign Secretary Yvette Cooper was due to meet her US counterpart Marco Rubio on Monday for further talks, and the Foreign Office said the two sides would "reaffirm their commitment to achieving a peace agreement in Ukraine".
The talks followed the release of the US National Security Strategy, which specifies the key foreign policy interests of the Trump administration.
The document released by the White House on Friday states that the United States wants to improve its relations with Russia after years of treating Moscow as a global pariah, and that ending the war is one of the key US interests in order to "re-establish strategic stability with Russia."
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said the document was largely in line with Moscow's vision.
The strategic document also states that NATO must not be a "constantly expanding alliance" and suggests that European states face the "prospect of civilizational erasure" due to migration.
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