The Trump administration is now figuring out what the longer term holds for Ukraine, and by extension for Europe, in issues of territorial integrity, sovereignty and safety. Washington goals to make a deal to finish the full-scale battle Russia launched in February 2022 that Russian President Vladimir Putin has waged towards Ukraine, even when it means abandoning longstanding worldwide ideas that prohibit the popularity of territory acquired via navy occupation.
For Europe extra broadly, and the European Union particularly, nevertheless, there may be way more at stake than these ideas, which Washington has not often prioritised in its personal overseas coverage.
Deterring Putin from additional aggression, and guaranteeing that Ukraine is steady each politically and economically, lies on the core of the bloc’s safety and political issues. A settlement to the battle that fails to realize both would threat the bloc’s personal long-term safety.
After all, all of this have to be managed whereas guaranteeing that the Trump administration doesn’t itself additional endanger European safety by as soon as once more casting doubt on its dedication to NATO’s safety infrastructure. However Europe has already, if belatedly, begun to get up to those issues. By final 12 months, 23 NATO members have been spending the goal 2 p.c of GDP on defence, and the alliance agreed a brand new objective of elevating core defence spending to not less than 3.5 p.c of GDP by 2035, with as much as one other 1.5 p.c of GDP to be spent on important infrastructure and on increasing their defence industrial bases.
Extra instantly, Europe has additionally surpassed the US for the primary time since June 2022 in whole navy support for Ukraine, with 72 billion euros ($83.6bn) allotted in contrast with Washington’s 65 billion euros ($75.5bn) by the top of April, in keeping with the Ukraine Assist Tracker.
But, whatever the end result of the Trump administration’s efforts to push Ukraine in the direction of a negotiating place that Putin could be prepared to just accept, the elevated European help is just not sufficient to offset the standstill in US funding. Navy support can also be just one a part of the image: Kyiv depends on the West’s fiscal support as nicely, to make sure the continued functioning of its authorities. And the invoice for reconstruction solely continues to develop as Russia’s assaults and aerial assaults proceed. In February, the World Financial institution estimated it at $524bn (506 billion euros) —about 280 p.c of Kyiv’s 2024 GDP.
With out dramatic motion, Europe dangers being left to Trump’s whims as to its future safety, regardless of having bowed to his calls for not solely on NATO spending and navy help for Ukraine, but additionally on commerce via agreements which have seen the US’s common tariff fee on imports from the EU and UK rise sharply.
However there’s a clear coverage alternative that Europe could make to make sure that monetary help for Kyiv stays ample over the approaching years and to form the end result of any settlement to the battle, whereas concurrently additional deterring Putin.
The European Union and the UK can transfer to confiscate the sovereign Russian funds frozen of their jurisdictions since 2022. Most significantly, they will seize the 185 billion euros ($214.8bn) frozen on the Belgium-based clearing home Euroclear – nearly all of which is now in money and may thus quickly be deployed or reinvested – in addition to the Russian authorities funds frozen at Euroclear’s Luxembourg-based rival, Clearstream, that are estimated to quantity to round 20 billion euros ($23.2bn).
Europe is just not unaware of this chance, and in reality, it has been debating doing so for months. The Euroclear belongings have already been used to underpin an earlier $50bn (43 billion euros) mortgage to Ukraine finalised in January 2025, which is secured over earnings from these belongings.
Europe had been anticipated to advance a plan to create a brand new mortgage – one amounting to as a lot as 140 billion euros ($162.6bn) – secured over the belongings on the European Council assembly on December 18-19, after delaying a remaining choice on the earlier council assembly on October 23. The delay was largely as a consequence of obstinacy from the Belgian authorities, which has demanded indemnification from the remainder of Europe whereas endorsing Kremlin speaking factors that such a transfer could be unprecedented.
But there may be ample precedent. German and Japanese authorities belongings have been seized by the US in the middle of the second world battle. Within the latter case, Japan’s belongings have been even frozen earlier than the assault on Pearl Harbour, nearly all of which have been later retained below the San Francisco Peace Treaty of 1951.
The Kremlin’s threats to tie up Belgium in decades-long litigation are additionally overblown. They depend on a pre-Soviet-collapse bilateral funding treaty that Putin and his proxies have already did not invoke efficiently to unfreeze their belongings or problem earlier sanctions. Moreover, there are dozens of unresolved claims price tens of billions of {dollars} towards Russia in European courts — together with the roughly 13-billion-euro ($15bn) arbitration award received by vitality agency Uniper towards Gazprom for disruption to gasoline provides in 2022. The biggest and most vital case stays the 2014 award to former shareholders of Yukos, over the Kremlin’s expropriation of their firm. That award survived all appeals: in October 2025, the Supreme Courtroom of the Netherlands rejected Russia’s remaining problem, confirming that the award — now valued at greater than $65bn, together with curiosity — is remaining and enforceable towards Russian state belongings worldwide. Enforcement, nevertheless, will nonetheless depend upon finding appropriate Russian belongings that courts are prepared and capable of seize.
The Kremlin will definitely have interaction in lawfare and litigation over these disputes, because it has repeatedly all through Putin’s tenure. However it can lose, and when its nationwide pursuits are at stake, it can pay. Russia has repeatedly complied with antagonistic rulings when important entry to Western markets or belongings was at stake. The one clear-cut instances of both the West or Russia returning funds owed because of litigation arising from Russia’s battle have been the settlements paid by Russian state insurer NSK and aviation agency Aeroflot over Putin’s 2022 seizure of plane leased from Western firms.
There isn’t any excuse for Europe’s delays in appearing up to now. Each month of inaction will increase each the monetary burden on Europe and the probability that Washington will strike a deal that sidelines European pursuits. The query is now a important one: how to make sure Ukraine’s continued financing and its potential to maintain its defence. It is usually all of the extra vital that Europe act earlier than the Trump Administration tries to safe a cope with the Kremlin over its head.
The 28-point “peace plan” formulated by Kremlin insiders and signed off by Trump’s particular envoy and long-time affiliate Steve Witkoff final month not solely consists of carving up these similar frozen funds and even calls for that Europe itself present an extra $100 billion, however would additionally divert frozen Russian belongings away from Ukraine’s reconstruction whereas imposing a further monetary burden instantly on Europe. Such a deal would go away Europe footing a fair bigger invoice if the Kremlin fails to stick to its commitments — because it did with the ceasefire agreements struck in 2014 and 2015 following its preliminary invasion of Ukraine.
Europe has the leverage to advance its political, financial and navy safety within the negotiations over Ukraine’s future, and it should not be afraid to make use of it.
The views expressed on this article are the creator’s personal and don’t essentially mirror Al Jazeera’s editorial coverage.
