Reparations for Ukraine: New European body to be created to decide on claims
The Hague, Netherlands - Top European officials on Tuesday met to set up an international body to decide on tens of billions of euros of eventual reparations to compensate Ukraine over Russia's invasion.
The International Claims Commission for Ukraine will assess and decide on claims for reparations, including any amount to be paid out.
The body was expected to be agreed at a high-level summit Tuesday in The Hague attended by Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and EU foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas.
The commission's establishment follows the setting up of a so-called "Register of Damages," which has already received more than 80,000 claims for reparations from individuals or organizations.
The third step will be setting up a compensation fund. It is not clear how that critical part of the process will work in practice.
The reparations mechanism is being coordinated via the Strasbourg-based Council of Europe, the 46-nation group protecting human rights on the continent.
Dutch Foreign Minister David van Weel told reporters that the new commission would be based in The Hague.
Zelensky hails "real progress" in talks on ending Ukraine war
EU leaders are under pressure to reach an agreement on what to do with the frozen Russian assets at a summit starting Thursday.
They are seeking ways to fund a loan to Kyiv which, under the proposal, would be paid back by any eventual Russian reparations to Ukraine.
But while the plan has the strong backing of many member states, including heavyweight Germany, it has drawn fierce opposition so far from Belgium.
The country is home to international deposit organization Euroclear – which holds most of the Russian assets – and has so far rejected the proposal because of potential legal repercussions.
The debate over frozen assets comes alongside efforts to end the Ukraine war, which US President Donald Trump said was "closer now than we have been ever."
After two days of talks with senior US officials in Berlin, Zelensky said negotiations were "not easy" but brought "real progress" on the question of security guarantees.
European leaders on Monday proposed a European-led "multinational force" with US support to enforce a potential peace deal.
"Discussions on accountability and reparation and reconstruction must be part of the peace talks," Council of Europe Secretary General Alain Berset told reporters on arrival at the meeting in The Hague.
Cover photo: REUTERS