European leaders have made "positive progress" towards using frozen Russian assets to support Ukraine, following crisis talks in London with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky.
British Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer hosted Zelensky alongside French President Emmanuel Macron and German Chancellor Friedrich Merz at Downing Street on Monday. The leaders discussed how to unlock more than £180bn in Russian assets that European banks hold frozen since Moscow's 2022 invasion of Ukraine.
United States (US) President Donald Trump criticized Zelensky for allegedly failing to read the latest American peace proposal. The meeting came amid this growing tension between Washington and Kyiv.
Zelensky warned his country faces an existential funding crisis. Analysts forecast Ukraine will run out of money as soon as March or April without further aid. "We can't manage without Americans, we can't manage without Europe and that is why we need to make some important decisions," Zelensky said before the meeting began.
Trump's criticism and peace plan tensions
Trump expressed frustration with Zelensky over a US-drafted peace framework. "I'm a little bit disappointed that President Zelensky hasn't yet read the proposal, that was as of a few hours ago," Trump told reporters on Sunday. "His people love it, but he hasn't."
Trump claimed Russia's President Vladimir Putin is "fine with" the American plan. Neither Ukraine nor Russia appears willing to sign the current framework.
German Chancellor Merz voiced skepticism about the proposal. He said he was "[...] sceptical about some of the details which we are seeing in the documents coming from the US side, but we have to talk about that [...]"
Frozen assets and reconstruction funding
The European Commission has proposed a £78bn "reparations loan" for Ukraine, hinged on Moscow eventually paying war reparations to Kyiv. Roughly £160bn of frozen Russian assets sit at Euroclear, a central securities depository in Brussels.
Belgium has resisted the plan, fearing liability and potential retaliation from Moscow.
Britain has frozen £8bn in Russian assets and is prepared to hand them over, but seeks joint European action. British officials indicated they hope for a breakthrough deal in the coming days.
European unity and security demands
After the Downing Street meeting, Starmer convened a call with other European allies and Zelensky. The leaders agreed "now is a critical moment" and vowed to "ramp up support to Ukraine and economic pressure on Putin to bring an end to this barbaric war," according to a Downing Street spokesperson.
Starmer told the Press Association ahead of the talks that any ceasefire must include "hard-edged security guarantees" for Ukraine. He stated: "We are at a critical stage in the push for peace. The principles remain the same: we stand with Ukraine, and if there is to be a ceasefire, it needs to be a just and lasting ceasefire."
Macron suggested allies hold "a lot of cards" through equipment funding, Ukrainian resistance, and sanctions against Russia.
The leaders instructed their national security advisers to continue discussions this week.
Competing visions for peace
Zelensky told Bloomberg News on Monday: "There are visions of the US, Russia and Ukraine — and we don't have a unified view on Donbas." The statement revealed ongoing disagreements about control of eastern Ukrainian territory.
The US released a National Security Strategy document Friday that prioritized improving relations with Moscow and questioned Europe's reliability as an ally. The Kremlin welcomed the document, with spokesman Dmitry Peskov saying it was largely in line with Moscow's vision.
Zelensky traveled to Brussels after the London meeting to meet with North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) Secretary-General Mark Rutte and European Union (EU) leaders. He is expected in Rome on Tuesday.
Meanwhile, UK Foreign Secretary Yvette Cooper met her US counterpart Marco Rubio in Washington on Monday to discuss efforts to end the war.
Note: This article was created with Artificial Intelligence (AI).
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