Ursula von der Leyen welcomed talks on a Ukraine peace deal led by U.S. President Donald Trump and said Europe considers there is now “a starting point” on a plan after days of negotiations.
A 28-point plan circulated by the Trump administration last week alarmed Ukraine and its European allies as it heavily favored Moscow. After days of pressure on Ukraine to agree to that contentious proposal, Washington and Kyiv said talks in Geneva generated an “updated and refined peace framework” for additional negotiations.
“Thanks to the work of Ukraine, the United States and us Europeans over the last few days in Geneva, we now have a starting point,” the European Commission president told MEPs in Strasbourg. But she added, “We know that much more effort is needed.”
Von der Leyen outlined Europe’s key demands for negotiations involving “Ukraine, the United States and the coalition of the willing on the way forward.” She said no peace deal can include a limitation on Ukraine’s armed forces — as the first U.S. proposal outlined — as it would leave the country vulnerable to future attacks.
“Ukraine needs robust, long-term and credible security guarantees as part of a wider package to dissuade and deter any future attacks from Russia. And it is equally clear that any peace agreement needs to ensure that European security is guaranteed for the long term.”
She also made clear it is a red line for Europe that there can be no changing of borders — the U.S. plan had Crimea and the Ukrainian regions of Luhansk and Donetsk being recognized as de facto Russian territory, and land in Kherson and Zaporizhzhia regions frozen along current frontlines.
Von der Leyen added that Ukraine must be free to join the EU if it decides so. “If today we legitimize and formalize the undermining of borders, we open the doors for more wars tomorrow, and we cannot let this happen.”
In her address, von der Leyen also said the EU will accelerate its plan to use frozen Russian state assets to underpin a €140 billion loan to Ukraine.
“The next step is now that the Commission is ready to present a legal text,” von der Leyen said— though she didn’t say when the document would be put forward.
Europe’s plan to use the Russian sovereign assets to support a loan for Ukraine ran into fierce opposition at a summit last month from Bart De Wever, prime minister of Belgium, where the money is held.
“I cannot see any scenario in which European taxpayers alone pay the bill,” von der Leyen said.
The Commission president doubled down on the fact that Ukraine and EU countries need to sit at the table for any future decisions on the implementation of a peace treaty. “Nothing about Ukraine without Ukraine, nothing about Europe without Europe, nothing about NATO without NATO,” she said.
German Chancellor Friedrich Merz also addressed the Ukraine peace plan talks in a speech in the Bundestag on Wednesday morning, saying: “We want this war to end as quickly as possible. However, an agreement negotiated between major powers without the consent of Ukraine and without the consent of Europeans will not provide a basis for genuine lasting peace in Ukraine.”
Merz said he welcomed “the continued American commitment to resolving this conflict, and I said exactly that to President Trump in a phone call last Friday. But at this fateful moment for Ukraine, for Europe, and for our alliance with America, I also want to make it clear that decisions on European affairs can only be made in agreement with Europe. Europe is not a pawn, but a sovereign actor pursuing its own interests and values.”
The European Union has accelerated efforts to agree on a scheme to use frozen Russian assets to help Ukraine after a U.S.-backed peace plan last week set out different ideas, EU officials said.
EU leaders tried at a summit last month to agree on a plan to use 140 billion euros ($162 billion) in frozen Russian sovereign assets in Europe as a loan for Kyiv, but failed to secure the backing of Belgium, where much of the funds are held.
The European Commission, the EU executive body, hopes to address Belgium’s concerns in a draft legal proposal which it will present this week on using the frozen sovereign assets to support Kyiv in 2026 and 2027, EU officials said.
Work on the EU plan was already under way but details that emerged last week of how the assets might be used under the U.S.-backed plan, which European leaders saw as heavily favouring Moscow, have helped focus minds in the 27-nation bloc.
“It surely made work on this even more urgent,” one official with knowledge of preparations for the project said.
EU MUST HELP UKRAINE DEFEND ITSELF, VON DER LEYEN SAYS
Under the EU plan, which has been discussed since October, the frozen Russian central bank assets in Europe would be lent to Ukraine for Kyiv to use for defence and regular budget needs.
This would provide welcome respite for EU governments, the biggest donors to Ukraine since Russia’s full-scale invasion in February 2022. Ukraine would pay back the 140-billion-euro loan only when it receives war reparations from Russia.
The latest version of the U.S.-backed plan has not been released.
But under the U.S.-backed plan that was presented last week, $100 billion of the frozen Russian funds would be invested in a U.S.-led effort to reconstruct and invest in Ukraine, with the U.S. getting 50% of the profits from this venture, according to details of the 28-point plan that were made public.
Under that plan, Europe would have to match the $100-billion contribution to increase the investment available to rebuild Ukraine while the balance of the frozen funds would be invested in a separate U.S.-Russia investment vehicle to pursue joint U.S.-Russia projects.
The Commission’s draft legal text is intended to help win the support of Belgium, where 185 billion euros of the 210 billion euros of assets frozen in Europe are located, because it would have to address in detail various legal guarantees that the Belgian government has demanded.
WHY IS AGREEMENT SO HARD?
Among Belgium’s main concerns, which have to be addressed before EU leaders discuss the plan again on December 18, is the issue of potential Russian lawsuits against the Belgian securities depository Euroclear, where the assets are kept.
Such lawsuits could be costly, long-lasting or even launched years from now. The Belgian government wants other EU countries to guarantee it would not be left alone to cover the expense and financial fallout.
Similarly, should courts ever decide that Russia must get its frozen money back before Moscow pays reparations to Kyiv, Belgium wants others to guarantee they would help provide the money – and quickly.
While the Russian money remains frozen under a decision by EU leaders until Russia pays reparations, this decision needs to be renewed by unanimity every six months.
This creates a risk that Hungary, whose prime minister is closer to Moscow than other EU leaders, might refuse to roll over the sanctions and in this way automatically release the funds to Moscow.
Belgium and other EU governments want the Commission to come up with a way to prevent that before they approve the scheme.
Apart from the 185 billion euros immobilised in Belgium, there is an estimated 25 billion euros more of Russian sovereign money frozen in EU banks in various countries, mainly in France and Luxembourg.
Belgium says other countries that have Russian cash, including Canada, Japan, Britain and the U.S. – all of which are members of the Group of Seven wealthy nations – should also be included in the scheme.
EU officials close to the talks between the Commission and Belgium are confident that all these concerns can be addressed one by one.
“But ultimately, it will be about political will,” the EU official close to the talks said.
Source: Reuters
