{"id":174166,"date":"2025-12-03T23:00:38","date_gmt":"2025-12-03T23:00:38","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/quixnet.net\/wpinstance\/ukraine-war-latest-eu-prepares-e90bn-seizure-of-russian-assets-after-putins-threat-the-independent\/"},"modified":"2025-12-03T23:00:38","modified_gmt":"2025-12-03T23:00:38","slug":"ukraine-war-latest-eu-prepares-e90bn-seizure-of-russian-assets-after-putins-threat-the-independent","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/quixnet.net\/wpinstance\/ukraine-war-latest-eu-prepares-e90bn-seizure-of-russian-assets-after-putins-threat-the-independent\/","title":{"rendered":"Ukraine war latest: EU prepares \u20ac90bn seizure of Russian assets after Putin\u2019s threat – The Independent"},"content":{"rendered":"

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Kremlin says no compromise could be reached on thorniest issue \u2013 territory
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A meeting between Volodymyr Zelensky<\/a> and a US delegation has been cancelled after Vladimir Putin<\/a> rejected a peace deal brokered by Donald Trump<\/a>\u2019s envoy.
The Ukrainian president had been scheduled to meet the US negotiators, Steve Witkoff and the US president\u2019s son-in-law Jared Kushner, <\/a>in Brussels but they left Moscow on Tuesday night for Washington, the Kremlin said.
The Kremlin has denied claims that Putin<\/a> outright rejected the deal, as spokesman Dmitry Peskov said the Russian leader had accepted some of the proposals – but that key differences remained.
\u201cA direct exchange of views took place yesterday for the first time,\u201d Peskov said. \u201cSome things were accepted, some things were marked as unacceptable – this is a normal working process of finding a compromise.\u201d
His comments came before a Nato summit in Brussels<\/a> where foreign ministers have been discussing the future of Ukraine<\/a>\u2019s security.
Ahead of the talks, Estonian foreign minister Margus Tsahkna his country would send troops to Ukraine<\/a> should security guarantees for the country include a peace force.
Kremlin aide Yuri Ushakov said on Wednesday that Russia’s recent battlefield progress in Ukraine had what he described as a positive impact on peace negotiations held with U.S. envoys in Moscow a day earlier.
In video footage released on the talks’ eve, President Vladimir Putin hailed what his commanders said was Russia’s capture of the city of Pokrovsk in eastern Ukraine. Kyiv dismissed his claim, saying fighting was still ongoing there.
But Ushakov, speaking after the talks between Putin and U.S. President Donald Trump’s special envoy, Steve Witkoff, and son-in-law Jared Kushner, said that “the course and nature of the negotiations were, of course, influenced by the successes of recent weeks…on the battlefield.
“In other words, our Russian soldiers, through their military exploits, have contributed to a more positive assessment of the paths to a peaceful settlement by our foreign partners,” Ushakov told reporters.
He said he hoped that Ukraine and its European allies would also adopt what he called “a more balanced attitude and perception of what is going on.”
Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan and NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte discussed Black Sea safety on Wednesday, a Turkish Foreign Ministry source said, after Ankara expressed alarm at attacks on Russia-linked tankers, some claimed by Ukraine.
Ankara, a NATO member that has kept warm relations with both sides in the Russian war in Ukraine, has condemned attacks on vessels with links to Moscow that took place inside Turkey’s exclusive economic zone off its coast in the Black Sea.
The attacks have sent Black Sea shipping insurance rates higher and prompted one Turkish company, Besiktas Shipping, to halt Russia-related operations over security concerns.
Ukraine, which is targeting Russia’s oil exports as Moscow bombards its power grid, has taken responsibility for an attack by seaborne drones on two empty tankers heading towards a Russian port last week.
As Moscow becomes more bullish in its hybrid warfare tactics to provoke Nato, James C. Reynolds<\/strong> looks at how both armies and economies compare:
The United States has said it wants to sell weapons to the EU, not back it up \u2013 that alone will have Moscow licking its lips, says Mark Almond. <\/strong>
Read more here:
The Romanian military blew up a maritime drone that was endangering navigation in the Black Sea, the Ministry of National Defence said on Wednesday, amid rising concerns about risks to shipping in the area linked to the war in Ukraine.
The ministry said that the drone, which was found in an area 36 nautical miles (66 km) east of Constanta, was a Sea Baby. The Sea Baby is a maritime drone developed by Ukraine.
A Romanian Defence Ministry spokesperson declined to specify the country that the drone came from, but confirmed it was a Sea Baby. The Security Service of Ukraine declined to comment at the time of publication.
Worries over the safety of shipping in the Black Sea following attacks on Russia-linked tankers, some claimed by Ukraine, have caused insurance rates to rise in a body of water that is crucial for the shipment of grain, oil and oil products.
“The intervention team received approval to neutralise the identified object, in accordance with the operational procedures in force, and at around 1:00 p.m., the maritime drone was destroyed by controlled detonation,” the Defence Ministry said in a statement.
Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan and NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte discussed Black Sea safety on Wednesday, a Turkish Foreign Ministry source said, after Ankara expressed alarm at the attacks.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said on Wednesday he had urged Defence Minister Denys Shmyhal to carry out an urgent renewal of supervisory boards in the defence sector, aiming to restore investors’ confidence after a corruption scandal.
Ukraine has been rocked by a corruption scandal over an alleged $100-million kickback scheme in which senior energy officials and a former business associate of Zelensky are suspected of involvement.
It is Ukraine’s biggest such scandal since Zelensky became president in 2019 on a mandate to eliminate graft. Eradicating graft and shoring up the rule of law are key requirements for Kyiv to join the European Union, which Ukrainians see as critical to their future as they fend off a Russian invasion.
“It’s through supervisory boards that management and oversight of internal processes in companies are carried out, and this must be ensured one hundred percent,” Zelensky said on the Telegram messenger.
He also said that supervisory boards in state-run energy companies must be formed by the end of this month after the powers of most supervisory boards are terminated today.
Italy will pass a decree allowing the government to continue supporting Ukraine in its war of defence against Russia, despite a temporary delay, Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni said on Wednesday.
The decree for Ukraine aid was on the agenda of a meeting on Wednesday set to prepare the next day’s cabinet, but was taken off because the agenda was already too full, according to government sources.
“We will help Ukraine defend itself against the aggressor,” Meloni told reporters during a trip to Bahrein, saying there was still time to approve the new decree as the current one is due to expire on December 31.
Downing Street dismissed Vladimir Putin\u2019s comments about being ready for a war in Europe as \u201cKremlin claptrap\u201d.
The prime minister\u2019s official spokesperson said: \u201cThis is just more Kremlin claptrap from a president who isn\u2019t serious about peace.”
It comes after Sir Keir Starmer ducked a question from Tory MP Sir Bernard Jenkin, who asked whether the UK is ready for war with Russia.
Pressed on whether Britain is ready for war, a Downing Street spokesperson said: “Our investment in defence is clear for all to see.”
He added: \u201cOur armed forces always stand ready to defend this country and national security is clearly the number one priority of this government.\u201d
President Vladimir Putin<\/a> has said Russia<\/a> is ready to fight a war with Europe if it is provoked, as he accused leaders of sabotaging US-led efforts to end the war in Ukraine.
\u201cWe are not planning to go to war with Europe<\/a>, but if Europe wants to and starts, we are ready right now,\u201d he said on Tuesday. \u201cThey are on the side of war.\u201d
He said Europe had made demands<\/a> on a possible peace settlement for Ukraine<\/a>, which he said Russia found \u201cabsolutely unacceptable\u201d.
When questioned about the progress of the US proposal for a peace deal, Nato secretary general Mark Rutte said began by praising Donald Trump for being \u201cthe only one person in the whole world who was able to break the deadlock when it comes to war in Ukraine\u201d.
He then said: \u201cBut getting this peace done, as also the American president has said, is not something [that can be done] in a straight line, in one go. You need a proposal on the table. You need to have discussions, and we have seen the meetings in Geneva, in Miami, now yesterday in Moscow. It will be a step by step approach.\u201d
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