The president of the European Commission has warned of the risk of “unilateral fragmentation of a sovereign European nation” as Europe seeks to increase its influence over US efforts to end the war in .
More specifically, speaking before the European legislators, she emphasized that “she has not shown signs of a real willingness for peace”. Instead, he explained, Moscow is operating with a mindset that harkens back to the era of Yalta, the historic but controversial 1945 conference on the postwar order.
“So we must be clear that there cannot be a unilateral partition of a sovereign European nation and that borders cannot be changed by force. , we are opening the door to more wars tomorrow, and we cannot allow that,” Ursula von der Leyen pointed out.
Europe, USA and Ukraine in the middle
At the same time, the US continues its efforts to end the conflict and peacefully settle the situation. Donald Trump’s special envoy Steve Witkoff, who was recently revealed to have been advising the Kremlin on how to curry favor with the US president, is expected to travel to Moscow for a meeting with Vladimir Putin early next week. At the same time, .
Von der Leyen welcomed Donald Trump’s efforts to achieve peace, calling them a “starting point”. However, he made it clear that Europe still has serious concerns about several of the details of Washington’s original 28-point plan.
Ukraine, for its part, says that some of the maximalist demands that favored Russia have now been “withdrawn” from the plan. Meanwhile, Donald Trump withdrew Thursday’s Thanksgiving deadline because of little progress on key parts of the deal.
“Russia is not trying to stop the war”
Describing the situation as volatile and dangerous, Ursula von der Leyen said she saw “an opportunity for real progress”. While he also emphasized that: “So far we have not seen any sign that Russia is genuinely willing to end this conflict. So we must continue to put pressure on Moscow.”
The President of Ukraine, Volodymyr Zelensky, thanked the President of the European Commission for her messages of support. He emphasized that: “We completely agree. As long as Russia continues to reject all peace efforts, sanctions against it must be strengthened and defense and economic aid to Ukraine must continue.”
“If Russia could conquer Ukraine militarily, it would have done so by now”
In fact, in an emergency teleconference held by the European Union’s foreign ministers, they “confirmed our common principles”, said the head of the European foreign policy, Kaya Callas. These principles include sovereignty, independence, territorial integrity and “Ukraine’s inherent right to self-defense.” According to her, all European officials recognized the efforts of the American side for peace, but before presenting an analysis of the conflict that deviates significantly from the worldview that shapes the 28-point plan.
“At the moment, we see no sign that Russia is ready for a ceasefire,” he stressed. “We have to move from the phase where Russia is pretending to negotiate to the phase where it will actually have to negotiate. We are on the way there.”
Kaya Kalas referred to the “failed” Russian summer offensive and the impact of Western sanctions on Russia’s economy. “The idea that Ukraine is losing is also completely false. If Russia could conquer Ukraine militarily, it would have done so by now. Putin cannot achieve his goals on the battlefield, so he will try to negotiate their achievement.”
He added that in the last century Russia has attacked more than 19 countries, in some of which it has done so repeatedly. “Therefore, in any peace agreement, we need to focus on how to get concessions from the Russian side so that it stops aggression once and for all and does not try to change the borders by force,” pointed out former Estonian Prime Minister Kaja Kalas.
Disarmament of Ukraine and lost territories
Also, it is worth mentioning that European Union officials express their opposition to proposals that limit the Ukrainian armed forces. Such a measure, as Ursula von der Leyen underlined, would “leave the country vulnerable to future attacks”. He also stressed that Ukraine needs “strong, reliable and long-term security guarantees”.
that achieving peace in Ukraine would require Russia to gain control of Donetsk, perhaps through a territory swap. The original 28-point plan called for Ukraine to cede the entire Donetsk region to Russia, including parts currently under Ukrainian control.
What does Russia say about the plan?
According to a Reuters report citing three sources, the 28-point US plan was based on a Russian report submitted to the White House last October. Yuri Usakov, a senior Kremlin adviser, told state television that Moscow had reviewed the latest version of the US plan, adding: “Some aspects can be considered positive, but many require special discussions between experts.”
Meanwhile, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said on Wednesday that it was premature to talk about reaching a peace deal in the near future, according to Reuters.
The problem with the Russian captives
Ursula von der Leyen has promised that the Commission will present a draft legal proposal to use frozen Russian assets to finance Ukraine in 2026 and 2027. The proposal was previously rejected by European leaders over legal doubts from Belgium, which hosts assets worth around 183 billion euros, or two-thirds of the world’s of Russian wealth in the European Union.
At the same time, for his part, Donald Trump had proposed that the US receive 50% of the profits from an American-led operation for “reconstruction and investment in Ukraine”, based on $100 billion of frozen Russian assets. This is something that increases the pressure on European leaders. While the US government is asking Europe to contribute another 100 billion dollars to the reconstruction investment fund.
Ursula von der Leyen reiterated her support for the frozen assets plan, proposing a European Union loan to Ukraine guaranteed by the frozen assets and the idea that Russia would pay reparations to Kiev: “I can’t see any scenario where only European taxpayers will foot the bill.” European leaders are expected to discuss the issue next month as they try to secure funding for Kiev for 2026-27 as Ukraine is expected to run out of available funds in the spring.
The crimes of Russia and Putin
The president of the European Commission also underlined the need to return Ukrainian children forcibly deported to Russia: “There are tens of thousands of boys and girls, whose fate is unknown, trapped in Russia by Russia. We will not forget them.” The Ukrainian government has identified nearly 20,000 children who have been illegally or forcibly taken within the Russian border since the 2022 invasion, while Bring Kids Back says 1,835 children have already returned.
It is also recalled that the Russian president, Vladimir Putin himself, is wanted by the International Criminal Court for alleged war crimes, due to these kidnappings. While it is worth noting that .
