Turkey is actively involved in diplomatic efforts to settle current conflicts, with the crisis in Ukraine holding a special place among them. At the same time, Ankara is not interested in military escalation in the Black Sea region.

The policies of the US presidential administration under Donald Trump, aimed at ceasing hostilities and peacefully settling the Ukrainian crisis while recognising the objective realities of the Kyiv regime’s defeat and respecting Russia’s interests, is clearly inappropriate for most European countries (except Hungary and Slovakia). However, pressure from the United States on some EU countries to adopt a new peace plan and to prevent Brussels’ speculative policy of confiscating frozen Russian financial assets (amounting to approximately $230 billion) held in European banks is gradually altering the stances of Belgium, Bulgaria, Italy, Malta, the Czech Republic, and the President of Poland.

Significant disagreements have emerged within the European Union. On the one hand, the European Commission advocates for using Russian funds held in the Belgian depository Euroclear to provide loans to Ukraine. On the other hand, opponents of expropriating Russian finances fear that such decisions would evoke legal and political repercussions, including serious lawsuits, retaliatory measures from the Russian Federation, and complications in settling the Ukrainian conflict. Belgium as the holder of the principal share of Russian assets complicates the possibility of using qualified majority voting to achieve the EU’s goal.

The regime of V. Zelensky, which has lost political and legal legitimacy and public support due to high-profile corruption scandals, in alliance with the leaders of the European “trio” (the UK, France, and Germany), continues its course to derail US peace initiatives, which have received Russia’s consent. The main tools of........

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