Tour sur: Zelensky is actively seeking support after the failed EU summit
After the disastrous EU summit in Brussels, at which the countries could not agree on the confiscation of Russian assets, Vladimir Zelensky held talks with Polish President Karol Nawrocki in Poland. Kiev will now seek support from any possible partners, experts interviewed by Izvestia believe. It would be a sensible decision for Ukraine and Europe to move towards a peaceful settlement, rather than inventing artificial obstacles in order to stop the negotiation process, the Russian Foreign Ministry said. How the results of the European summit will affect the resolution of the conflict is in the Izvestia article.
Zelensky's visit to Warsaw
Vladimir Zelensky arrived in the Polish capital on the evening of December 18. He flew there directly from Brussels, where he met with EU leaders. The Europeans have not been able to agree on a loan for Ukraine secured by frozen Russian assets. The consolation prize was an interest-free loan of € 90 billion, which is hardly enough to cover the budget deficit for the next two years, and for the purchase of weapons. However, Zelensky thanked European sponsors even for this money.
The European Union Summit in Brussels
From the very beginning, Ukraine was not in the mood for peace talks with the Russian Federation, Rodion Miroshnik, the Russian Foreign Ministry's ambassador-at-large for crimes committed by the Kiev regime, told Izvestia.
—Doing another tour is in Zelensky's style," he said. — He can talk to dozens of leaders, but the main sums come from Berlin, with the support of Brussels and London, so he is unlikely to be able to find an alternative.
Karol Nawrocki, who became president of Poland in August, has repeatedly advocated reducing aid to Ukrainian migrants. At a meeting with Vladimir Zelensky, he accused Kiev of not thanking the Poles for their support. In addition, the Polish president said that he had talked with Zelensky about the exhumation of victims of the Volyn massacre, which is a painful topic for Ukraine, which honors the memory of gangs of the Ukrainian Insurgent Army (the organization is banned in the Russian Federation and recognized as extremist).
Nevertheless, Navrotsky said that Warsaw would transfer Soviet MiG-29 fighters to Ukraine. The Polish army has 14 such aircraft in service. However, he added: the decision to transfer them is not within his authority. Now Zelensky will travel to all cities of Europe in order to get at least some support, Roman Kovalenko, chairman of the executive committee of the international movement "Another Ukraine", told Izvestia.
— The fact that Europe will not allocate the necessary amount of funds is a very strong signal that will sober up both Zelensky and all his accomplices in unification. Now he will try to get maximum support," the expert says.
Poland stands for maintaining further assistance to Ukraine, as it is beneficial for Europe, Warsaw says. The other day, Foreign Minister Radoslaw Sikorski bluntly stated: Kiev allowed Warsaw to "buy precious time" in order to rebuild the defense. However, another group of countries began to strengthen in the European establishment, opposing unconditional military assistance to Ukraine. In addition to Hungary, Slovakia, and the Czech Republic, Italy is now present in it, says Egor Sergeev, a senior researcher at the MGIMO Institute of International Studies.
"It is also noteworthy that the current governments of these countries are closer to the Trump administration than all the others," he told Izvestia. — But do not relax, Ukraine is a priority issue for them in foreign policy, and the EU is determined to continue the conflict. This is evidenced by the fact that they decided to create a loan instrument for Kiev, despite the fact that most of the EU countries, except for the "cautious" ones, initially opposed the so-called plan B.
At the same time, the Western media explicitly state that the failure to implement a plan to use frozen Russian assets to help Ukraine has resulted in a serious political defeat for German Chancellor Friedrich Merz and European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen.
— The fact is that the documents proposed by the European Commission contained quite a lot of stretch marks and assumptions in terms of motivation, legal justifications for the use of assets and other things. This would entail guaranteed charges of violating international law, a whole string of court proceedings, and so on," Egor Sergeev tells Izvestia.
How will the results of the summit affect the settlement
Meanwhile, the negotiation process on Ukraine continues. According to Axios, advisers to the leaders of Germany, France and the United Kingdom were scheduled to meet on December 19 in Miami with Special Envoy to the US President Steve Witkoff and Secretary of the National Security and Defense Council of Ukraine Rustem Umerov. Turkey and Qatar should participate in the negotiations. The media also writes that a meeting of representatives of the United States and the Russian Federation will be held in Miami over the weekend.
How the last EU summit will affect the settlement of the conflict is a difficult question to predict, Rodion Miroshnik believes.
— The Europeans will be forced to reach into the pockets of their national budgets or the European budget in order to get out a certain amount to support the Kiev regime. And it is 100% certain that the opposition parties, adequate citizens of these countries, will not always understand, to put it mildly, such actions, which, again, poorly correlate with the national interests of these countries," he says.
Moreover, it is worth considering the fact that Ukraine is now losing significantly on the battlefield.
— Therefore, a sensible solution would be to move towards a settlement, rather than inventing artificial obstacles in order to stop the negotiation process, which is what Ukraine and Europe are doing today. Whether they change their point of view or continue to mock themselves and their states will be their choice," Rodion Miroshnik believes.
It should not be ruled out that the failed EU summit may push Zelensky to take the first peaceful steps that Donald Trump had previously proposed, Roman Kovalenko, chairman of the executive committee of the international movement Another Ukraine, tells Izvestia.
— Zelensky will have no option to continue the conflict if the EU does not support Ukraine with money. He's in a pincer grip right now. On the one hand, he has huge problems with financing within the country, on the other, he has huge failures at the front," the expert says.
Recall that at the end of November, Washington, by decision of President Donald Trump, stopped direct financing of the conflict in Ukraine. However, the United States continues to send or sell large amounts of weapons to NATO.
Also in November, Trump presented his 28-point peace plan for Ukraine, which calls for serious territorial and political concessions from Kiev. Subsequently, during the negotiations in Geneva, this document underwent significant changes, and the number of items in the list was significantly reduced. With the support of Brussels, Ukraine, in fact, rejected the main element of the American initiative — the demand for territorial compromises. Zelensky has repeatedly stressed that Ukraine has neither a legal nor a moral right to transfer its lands.
He also stated that Russia and Vladimir Putin personally were allegedly not interested in a peaceful settlement of the conflict. Nevertheless, most likely, under pressure from Trump, Zelensky said in December that Ukraine would be ready for elections within a few months if Western partners helped ensure the country's security.
Vladimir Putin, speaking in Gostiny Dvor on December 19, announced Russia's agreement to make compromises to resolve the Ukrainian conflict during the Russian-American summit in Anchorage.
— At the preliminary meetings in Moscow, proposals were made to us, and we were asked to make certain compromises. When I arrived in Anchorage, I said that these would be difficult decisions for us. But we agree with the compromises proposed to us," he said during a direct line combined with a press conference.
Russian President Vladimir Putin answers questions during the special program "Results of the Year"
The President stressed that saying that Russia rejects something is absolutely incorrect and has no basis in fact.
"The ball is entirely on the side of our opponents, so to speak, and above all the leaders of the Kiev regime and their, in this case, and above all, European sponsors," the Russian leader drew attention.
Putin also stressed that Russia is ready to stop strikes deep into the neighboring country during the elections in it. He agreed that the government in Ukraine must eventually become legitimate, and this cannot be achieved without a vote.
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