On Monday evening, US envoy Witkoff, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, French President Emmanuel Macron and British Prime Minister Keir Starmer are set to meet in Berlin for high-level talks.
In the lead-up to the EU Foreign Affairs Council, Luxembourg Foreign Minister Xavier Bettel stated on Monday morning that any peace agreement must be negotiated with Ukraine, not imposed from above.
Drawing a parallel with Luxembourg as a smaller country, Bettel added: “If from one day to the next, a third or a fourth of Luxembourg were negotiated away, it would be unacceptable. We have international laws… power should not allow you to do whatever you want.”
FM Xavier Bettel also criticised countries that voted against a recent UN resolution calling for the return of abducted Ukrainian children, accusing them of hypocrisy for opposing the measure while simultaneously participating in the Organisation for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE) and not upholding the same values.
EU High Representative and Vice-President Kaja Kallas addressed the ongoing discussions on the use of frozen Russian assets, noting that negotiations are becoming increasingly complex. However, she is confident that progress could be made to unlock €200 billion in assets to be used as a loan to Ukraine by the time the European Council meets later this week.
With Euroclear headquartered in Belgium, the country remains one of the strongest opponents of the plan, while Italy has also expressed reservations.
