Field of failure: Europe is stymying the dialogue on the US peace plan
Ukraine and its European partners are stymying the negotiation process on the US peace plan and want to make Russia guilty of disrupting the settlement, the Russian Foreign Ministry said. On December 8, Vladimir Zelensky met with the leaders of Great Britain, Germany and France in London. The goal of the Europeans and Kiev is to try to convince Donald Trump again that Russia allegedly does not want peace, experts say. At the same time, the Russian foreign ministry emphasizes that Moscow is ready to continue bilateral negotiations with Ukraine in the Istanbul format, "if there is an appropriate basis for this." About Zelensky's visit to London and the possibilities of Europe to support Kiev without the United States, see the Izvestia article.
Zelensky's visit to London
European countries do not give up trying to play one role or another in the Ukrainian settlement. For several weeks now, the United States has been promoting a plan to end the conflict, holding meetings with representatives of Ukraine and Russia. Moscow does not rule out that the option promoted by the administration of Donald Trump may form the basis of agreements. However, the Europeans are stymying the negotiation process on the US peace plan, the Russian Foreign Ministry said.
"Either the approach that the Americans are declaring today will be suitable and it will be possible to adapt it to the tasks that will be formulated by Russia, or it will become unacceptable," Rodion Miroshnik, the Russian Foreign Ministry's ambassador—at-large for crimes of the Kiev regime, told Izvestia. — Europe is trying to transform this approach in such a way as to make Russia guilty of disrupting the peacekeeping process. Despite the fact that the main opponents of peacekeeping are precisely the Europeans and Ukraine, a situational group that is working to torpedo the process of finding a peaceful settlement as much as possible.
Instead of dialogue, Kiev continues to rely on an attempt to defeat the Russian Federation on the battlefield. Ukraine's key allies are the Eurotroika (Great Britain, Germany and France) and the supranational structures of the EU — the European Commission and the European Council. On December 8, Vladimir Zelensky met in London with British Prime Minister Keir Starmer, German Chancellor Friedrich Merz and French President Emmanuel Macron.
Zelensky arrived in the British capital with the intention of seeking new packages of financial and military assistance, in particular, air defense systems. Guarantees of Ukraine's security have become an equally important topic. The United States is not ready to provide them yet, and the Europeans do not want to promise anything without a go-ahead from Washington. "Europe's main goal is to avoid a situation where the United States will force the wounded Zelensky to withdraw troops from the Ukrainian Donbas and agree to a deal without serious American security guarantees," Bloomberg wrote.
By the way, Zelensky really looked tired and depressed at a meeting with the leaders of Britain, Germany and France. No one announced the specific results of the negotiations, so the main moment of the day was how Britain's main mousetrap cat named Larry escaped from a meeting with Zelensky. There was a joke on social media that the cat didn't like the Ukrainian guest. It wasn't the first time the animal had given him a cold shoulder: his previous escape from a meeting had been last fall.
From London, Zelensky traveled to Brussels to meet with NATO Secretary General Marco Rutte, President of the European Council Antonio Costa and head of the European Commission Ursula von der Leyen.
The territorial issue and the problem of financing Ukraine
Last week, the Ukrainian delegation held lengthy talks in Miami with Donald Trump's special envoy Steve Witkoff and the US president's son-in-law, businessman Jared Kushner. Politico wrote that the United States is trying to convince Ukraine to withdraw troops from Donbass. Kiev insists on freezing the line of contact, which is unacceptable to Russia. Thus, negotiations between Ukraine and the United States stalled, and Trump said he was unhappy with Zelensky.
After the meeting in London, Vladimir Zelensky reiterated that a compromise on the territorial issue has not yet been found. He also noted that Europe and Ukraine are preparing their own version of the peace plan, and this version will be ready in the next 24 hours, after which it will be sent to the United States.
— It seems to me that the general line is an attempt to repeat what was done in August of this year after the meeting between Putin and Trump in Anchorage. Zelensky and his support group immediately tried to convince Trump or at least adjust his approaches. Andrei Kortunov, an expert at the Valdai Club, told Izvestia. — The task of Ukraine and its partners is to ensure that the arrows are turned back to Moscow. That is, so that the point of view prevails in the United States that Moscow "does not want peace," that Russia's position "remains uncompromising." And this means that in order to achieve peace, "it is necessary to increase economic pressure on Moscow," as Zelensky constantly says.
Negotiations between the delegations of Russia and Ukraine with the participation of representatives of Turkey at the Chiragan Palace in Istanbul
However, Russia has repeatedly proved that the EU will not be able to achieve concessions from the Russian side through pressure. She has repeatedly stated that she intends to achieve her goals through political, diplomatic or military means. Moreover, Moscow is ready to continue negotiations with Kiev in the Istanbul format, "if there is an appropriate basis for this," said Rodion Miroshnik.
— Russia has made its move today. Russia has submitted its proposal and formulated a draft memorandum. And in this case, starting in July, Russia was ready to continue these actions. We did not leave the Istanbul format. Our positions have not changed in this sense," the diplomat said.
Ukraine has refused to continue negotiations in the Istanbul format, Russian presidential aide Yuri Ushakov said earlier.
European countries do not hide their concern about the lack of resources for further financing of Ukraine. Although the United States intends to allocate $800 million for 2026-2027 for military assistance to Kiev, this is clearly not enough to significantly support the Armed Forces of Ukraine.
The EU is intensively looking for a legal justification for the confiscation of frozen Russian assets — the European Union has almost no free money left, and the only alternative may be additional loans. That is why the discussion about frozen assets is not abating in the EU — few people want to increase their own expenses or attract financing in the debt market by creating a hypothetical new special instrument, Egor Sergeev, associate professor of the Department of World Economy and senior researcher at the MGIMO Institute of International Studies at the Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, said in a conversation with Izvestia.
— As statistics for 2025 show, the EU already accounts for the bulk of Ukraine's external financing. It is worth noting that the budgets of many EU countries already include expenditures on Ukraine (both purely military and macroeconomic) for both 2026 and 2027. The problem is that the financial hole in Ukraine's budget in 2026 is likely to be even bigger, and the first problems will begin around February. In other words, the current parameters of external financing from EU institutions and countries are likely to be lacking. And the Eurotroika alone, of course, will not be able to economically pull off military and financial assistance to Ukraine without the United States," the analyst noted.
The same point of view is supported by former MEP Gunnar Beck. According to him, increased military assistance to Ukraine from the European Union is impossible without additional loans, which EU countries are not ready for now.
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