The European Union begins a critical week on Monday in which it will have to do everything possible to help Ukraine get the best possible peace deal while trying to salvage an agreement on a billion-euro loan to Kiev, write Reuters and Politico.
European leaders will meet Volodymyr Zelensky and US officials in Berlin on Monday in a bid to make progress in negotiations to end the war in Ukraine.
At the same time in Brussels, EU foreign ministers and diplomats will push to win the support of as many governments as possible for a loan plan for Kiev, in preparation for a decision that should be taken at the European Council later this week.
The pressures are high, and not just from Donald Trump, who has slammed the Europeans as weak and is trying to force a peace deal that EU leaders say is unfavorable to Ukraine.
The main pressure comes from Moscow itself. NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte warned last week that Europe is Russia's “next target”.
“Russia has brought war back to Europe and we must be prepared for a war on the scale of the one our grandfathers and great-grandfathers endured,” he said.
Meeting in Berlin
In Berlin, the leaders of Ukraine, Britain, Germany and possibly France will meet with Trump's son-in-law, Jared Kushner, and Trump's special envoy, Steve Witkoff.
Underscoring the importance of the meeting, “several European leaders will join the talks” after the initial discussion, said Stefan Kornelius, a spokesman for German Chancellor Friedrich Merz.
French President Emmanuel Macron has not confirmed his attendance, but spoke to Zelenskiy by phone on Sunday.
The talk is Europe's attempt to influence an eventual deal, weeks after a 28-point peace plan drawn up by Witkoff – apparently with Russian help – sparked an angry reaction in both Kiev and European capitals.
The focus will be on an amendment to the plan drawn up by Kiev and its European allies and presented to Washington for consideration last week.
Its content remains unclear and nothing is decided, but the fate of Ukrainian territories under Russian occupation is particularly complicated.
Territories and security guarantees
Trump proposed the withdrawal of Ukrainian and Russian troops and the establishment of a demilitarized “free economic zone” in which US commercial interests could operate.
Ukraine rejected that proposal, according to a French official cited by Politico, who spoke on condition of anonymity. The US has insisted on territorial concessions despite Europe's vehement objections, the official added, which has raised tensions.
At the same time, European leaders insist that no progress can be made on the territories if Ukraine is not given security guarantees.
In a sign of progress, Zelenskiy said over the weekend that he was willing to make “compromise” and stop calling for Ukraine to join NATO. Instead, he said, the country should be granted an ad hoc collective defense agreement.
“Bilateral security guarantees between Ukraine and the United States and security guarantees from our European colleagues, as well as from other countries such as Canada and Japan – these security guarantees give us an opportunity to prevent another outbreak of Russian aggression,” he said.
Europe will have other opportunities to discuss the way forward after Monday. EU foreign ministers will continue to discuss plans for Thursday's summit in Brussels on Tuesday.
Meanwhile, on Wednesday, the leaders of Europe's “eastern flank” will meet in Helsinki.
A difficult loan to obtain
In the meantime, the EU needs to come up with the money that Kiev desperately needs.
European leaders have been trying for months to get Belgian Prime Minister Bart De Wever to agree to a plan to use frozen Russian assets held by Belgian depository Euroclear to guarantee a loan needed to finance and arm Ukraine.
The news for those who want this deal is not great.
Italy – the EU's third-largest country – joined Belgium's calls to look for alternative financing options for Ukraine in a letter also signed by Malta and Bulgaria.
And the Czech Republic's new prime minister, Andrej Babiš, also rejected the plan on Sunday.
The five countries – joined by already pro-Kremlin Hungary and Slovakia – could not form a blocking minority, but their public criticism erodes the Commission's hopes of reaching a political agreement this week.
A meeting of EU ambassadors, originally planned for Sunday evening, has been postponed until Monday.
While all these problems have raised fears of a failure, with Ukraine in desperate need of money, three diplomats insisted they will stick to the plan and are not considering an alternative.
The decision on Russian assets is “a decision on the future of Europe and will determine whether the EU is still a relevant actor,” a German official was quoted as saying by Politico. “There is no option B,” he said.
