Zelenskyy, European leaders declare use of full value of frozen Russian sovereign assets to help Ukraine
President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelenskyy, British Prime Minister Keir Starmer, Federal Chancellor Friedrich Merz, President of France Emmanuel Macron, Prime Minister of Italy Giorgia Meloni, Prime Minister of Poland Donald Tusk, President of the European Commission Ursula von der Leyen, President of the European Council Antonio Costa, Prime Minister of Norway Jonas Gahr Støre, President of Finland Alexander Stubb and Prime Minister of Denmark Mette Frederiksen issued a joint statement on peace for Ukraine.
"We are all united in our desire for a just and lasting peace, deserved by the people of Ukraine. We strongly support President Trump’s position that the fighting should stop immediately, and that the current line of contact should be the starting point of negotiations. We remain committed to the principle that international borders must not be changed by force," says a message on the UK government website.
The statement notes that Ukraine is the only party that is serious about peace.
"Russia’s stalling tactics have shown time and time again that Ukraine is the only party serious about peace. We can all see that Putin continues to choose violence and destruction. Therefore we are clear that Ukraine must be in the strongest possible position - before, during, and after any ceasefire. We must ramp up the pressure on Russia’s economy and its defence industry, until Putin is ready to make peace. We are developing measures to use the full value of Russia’s immobilised sovereign assets so that Ukraine has the resources it needs," European leaders said.
It is noted that leaders will meet later this week at the European Council and the "Coalition of the Willing" to discuss how to continue this work and further support Ukraine.