Ukraine’s European allies on Monday said that the war is at a “critical moment” as President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said his country is preparing to share a revised peace plan with the U.S.
Zelenskyy met with U.K. Prime Minister Keir Starmer, German Chancellor Friedrich Merz and French President Emmanuel Macron in London as the European leaders scrambled to ensure that Ukraine’s territorial integrity and future security are not compromised in the face of growing U.S. pressure.
In a statement following the meeting, Starmer’s office said the leaders had discussed “the importance of the U.S.-led peace talks for European security” and supported the progress made so far.
“The leaders underscored the need for a just and lasting peace in Ukraine, which includes robust security guarantees,” Starmer’s representatives added. “The leaders agreed that, while diplomatic efforts continue, Europe must stand with Ukraine, strengthening its ability to defend against relentless attacks.”
Starmer, Merz, Macron and Zelenskyy also discussed “positive progress” that had been made on using frozen Russian assets to support Ukraine’s reconstruction.
The European Commission, the executive arm of the EU, last week proposed using cash from the balances of European financial institutions holding frozen Russian Central Bank assets to support Ukraine with a “Reparations Loan.” It also tabled borrowing the funds from international markets, offering member states an alternative to using Russian capital.
The U.K. prime minister’s office noted that those present in Monday’s meeting had also joined a call with other European leaders following the initial talks.
“The leaders all agreed that now is a critical moment and that we must continue to ramp up support to Ukraine and economic pressure on Putin to bring an end to this barbaric war,” the spokesperson said.
U.S. support remains crucial
As the European leaders reiterated their support for Kyiv, Zelenskyy stressed that Ukraine also remained reliant on input from Washington.
“There are some things which we can’t manage without the Americans, some things we can’t manage without Europe, that’s why we need to make some important decisions,” he said, during a press briefing.
However, Merz struck a somewhat cautious tone on U.S. negotiators achieving an imminent breakthrough that would be acceptable to both Ukraine and wider European continent.
“This could be a decisive time for all of us,” he told reporters. “We are trying to continue our support for Ukraine, on the other hand we are seeing these talks and decisions between Moscow and the U.S., I’m looking forward to hearing from [Zelenskyy] what the outcome of these talks might be.”
The U.K. and France have been leading proponents of a “Coalition of the Willing,” a group of countries that could be part of a “reassurance force” in a post-war Ukraine that helps to guarantee its security.
Ukraine is expected to share a revised peace plan with the U.S. after the London talks, according to media reports.
The updated plan consists of 20 points after some “obvious anti-Ukrainian points were removed,” Zelenskyy said in comments reported by Sky News. He added that he will share the revised plan with the U.S. today.
On Sunday, Trump claimed Zelenskyy had not yet read the latest U.S.-backed peace plan yet, though it’s unclear which version Trump was referring to.
“We all know that the destiny of this country is the destiny of Europe,” Merz added on Monday. “Nobody should doubt our support for Ukraine. I’m skeptical about some of the details which we are seeing in the documents coming from the U.S. side, but we have to talk about that, that’s why we are here.”
Anna Rosenberg, head of geopolitics at Amundi Investment Institute, told CNBC’s “Europe Early Edition” on Tuesday that negotiations to bring the war to an end seemed to be “going in circles.”
“It’s a lot of talking back and forth,” she said. “Frankly, sometimes I wonder what they keep on talking about, because the sticking points are always the same. It’s about territory and it’s about the security guarantees, and the security guarantees are arguably more difficult than the territory, but the territory is also difficult for Ukraine.”
Last week, Russian President Vladimir Putin threatened that Moscow would take Ukraine’s critical Donbas region “by force” if Ukraine does not concede the territory willingly.
Rosenberg told CNBC on Tuesday that Kyiv is unlikely to give in to that pressure.
“The territory we’re talking about is a critical zone of defense for Ukraine, which, if Ukraine gives it up, would make it much easier for Russia to go deeper into Ukraine, because it’s a so-called fortress belt of heavy fortification,” she explained.
“Behind that fortress belt, there’s a plane you can easily enter with military. So, Ukraine is going to hold on to that for as long as they can. They will only give up on the territory once they feel confident. They have security guarantees that will give them confidence that there’s not going to be an attack in a couple of months or years down the line.”
— Tasmin Lockwood contributed to this report.
