World leaders will hold a key meeting to push forward the Ukraine peace plan on Tuesday as Britain’s Prime Minister Keir Starmer said last weekend's talks were “a major step towards a just and lasting peace for Ukraine”.
Expected at the virtual meeting of the so-called Coalition of the Willing, co-hosted by the UK and France, are leaders from European countries and potentially US President Donald Trump, as well as Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy.
This meeting will provide an opportunity to review discussions held in Geneva on Sunday between US, European and Ukrainian negotiators, the Elysee said in a statement. Meanwhile, talks continue ahead of an apparent Thursday deadline.
"Building on the momentum and work undertaken over the past several months within the Coalition, this meeting will reaffirm the commitment of its members to building a just and lasting peace underpinned by robust security guarantees for Ukraine."
'Broader consultation'
Talks have intensified over the past week to find a way to end to nearly four years of war in which more than one million people have been killed.
But with the joint US-Russian, 28-point peace plan apparently crossing several red lines for Ukraine – including the surrender of key territory in the Donbas region – Mr Starmer's spokesman told The National there remained a number of “outstanding issues”.
Speaking over the week-end at a summit in Angola, French President Emmanuel Macron said that the plan "stipulated a lot of things for Europe," such as how to use Russian frozen assets which are mostly located in Belgium. "There are many things that cannot simply be an American proposal and presuppose broader consultation," Mr Macron said.
Britain has signalled it does not want to see Ukraine steamrollered into an agreement that weakens it as state and empowers Russia. “While diplomatic efforts continue, we will stand steadfast with Ukraine to keep it in the fight and ensure the Ukrainian people can defend themselves during ongoing barbaric attacks,” the Prime Minister’s spokesman said. “The important thing is the talks are making progress. We are very supportive of that. They are a major step towards securing a just and lasting peace for Ukraine.”
Frozen assets
European Union leaders also held emergency talks about Ukraine on Monday. Leaked drafts show they have attempted to include in the Trump proposal negotiations about Ukrainian territories and security guarantees in case of a renewed Russian invasion.
“The direction is positive, and we commend the efforts of presidents Zelenskyy and Trump and their teams,” European Council President Antonio Costa said. But he also warned that "issues that concern directly the European Union, such as sanctions, enlargement or immobilized assets require the full involvement and decision by the European Union."
One of the significant issues for Europeans is a US demand to use $100 billion of frozen Russian assets on American-led reconstruction postwar efforts in Ukraine. The US would receive 50 per cent of the profits from this venture.
Plans for the European Commission to seize them to issue a $161 billion reparation loan to Ukraine were derailed in October by Brussels demanding that all EU countries contribute if Russia successfully sues to get its money back.
“If the EU rushes to seize Russia’s central bank assets before Washington grabs them, the bloc may be able to drastically curb Trump’s interest in a bad deal,” said Agathe Demarais, senior policy fellow at the ECFR think tank.
In parallel, Mr Zelenskyy separately said he would “continue working with partners, especially the United States, to look for compromises that will strengthen but not weaken us”.
Moscow said it was aware of continuing “adjustments” to Mr Trump's plan, which had been welcomed by Russian President Vladimir Putin. “We will wait,” a Kremlin representative said.
A joint statement issued by the White House and Ukraine on Sunday said “the parties drafted an updated and refined peace framework.” The final decision on this framework is to be made by the two countries leaders.
Ukraine sovereignty 'may not be questioned'
US Secretary of State Marco Rubio, who was in Geneva on Sunday for talks, said the draft kept changing and refused to comment on specific details.
Mr Rubio described Mr Trump as “quite pleased at the reports we've given him on the amount of progress that has been made.” Mr Trump had earlier in the day accused Ukraine of being ungrateful for US support.
Mr Trump had previously set a Thursday deadline for Mr Zelenskyy to accept a peace plan, but Mr Rubio said the deadline might fluctuate. “Whether it's Thursday, whether it's Friday, whether it's Wednesday, whether it's Monday of the following week, we want it to be soon,” he said.
But European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen outlined Europe's red lines on any peace plan.
“Ukraine's territory and sovereignty must be respected. Only Ukraine, as a sovereign country, can make decisions regarding its armed forces. The choice of their destiny is in their own hands,” she said.
Mr Trump's plan limited Ukrainian military personnel to 600,000. It also required Ukraine never to join Nato, despite promises made by the previous Biden administration. A draft circulated by Europeans did not mention this but said joining Nato required unanimity from its members. It added that currently, it does not exist.
Echoing other European leaders' insistence that Europe must play a central role in peace talks, German Chancellor Friedrich Merz said on Sunday “the sovereignty of Ukraine may not be questioned”.
