Ukraine-Russia war latest: EU prepares €90bn seizure of Russian assets as leaders respond to Putin’s war threat

Russian President Vladimir Putin will be in India this week for a summit aimed at deepening economic, defense and energy ties, a visit that will also test New Delhi’s efforts to balance relations with Moscow and Washington as the war in Ukraine grinds on.

The European Union has agreed to phase out all Russian gas imports by late 2027, a significant step to end the bloc’s decade-long energy dependency following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in 2022.

Representatives from EU governments and the European Parliament reached an agreement in the early hours of Wednesday, acting on proposals set out by the European Commission in June to end shipments from the EU’s former top gas supplier.

Under the accord, the EU will permanently halt Russian gas imports and move towards phasing out Russian oil.

Sir Keir Starmer said Vladimir Putin “is dragging his feet, not wanting to come to the table, not wanting to reach an agreement”.

Conservative MP for Harwich and North Essex Sir Bernard Jenkin asked the Prime Minister at Prime Minister’s Questions: “Could the Prime Minister give his assessment of the latest news that President Putin has again turned down terms for peace in Ukraine, and in the light of his extraordinary outburst designed to destabilise our understanding of the truth, he did say Russia is ready for war with Nato. How ready are we?”

Sir Keir said: “Can I thank him for raising this and I updated the House last week on the attempts to get a lasting peace. We all know that Putin is the aggressor here.

“We all know that Putin is dragging his feet, not wanting to come to the table, not wanting to reach an agreement.

“We have to continue to put pressure on in every conceivable way. That is in supporting Ukraine with capability and resource, but also ensuring that our sanctions, acting with allies, do as much damage to the economy in Russia as we can, and pressure that we can put on, will continue to do so, but he’s absolutely right to raise it. I thank him for doing so.”

Responding to Vladimir Putin’s comments that Russia would be “ready” for war with Europe, Nato’s secretary general Mark Rutte said Nato is “ready to do what it takes” to protect its territory.

Speaking to the media today, Mr Rutte said:“Finally, Nato is a defensive alliance. We will remain a defensive alliance, but make no mistake, we are ready and willing to do what it takes to protect our 1 billion people and secure our territory.”

The European Commission has proposed an unprecedented use of frozen Russian assets or international borrowing to raise 90 billion euros (£79bn) for Ukraine to aid its struggling military and basic services.

The European Union’s executive body has declared it favours a “reparations loan” using Russian state assets immobilised in the EU due to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.

But Belgium, which holds most of the assets and has voiced a range of legal concerns, is not convinced by the proposal.

“We are proposing to cover two-thirds of Ukraine’s financing needs for the next two years. That’s 90 billion euros. The remainder would be for international partners to cover,” said commission president Ursula von der Leyen.

“Since pressure is the only language the Kremlin responds to, we can also dial it up,” she said.

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 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 – that alone will have Moscow licking its lips, says Mark Almond.