Europe’s attempt to seize frozen Russian assets for the benefit of Ukraine turned out to be not a display of unity, but a troubling signal of the EU’s strategic, political, and moral erosion.

On the table was a proposal to seize roughly €300 billion in Russian central bank assets and repurpose them as collateral for Ukraine. As some expected, the unity collapsed through quiet withdrawals, procedural hesitations, and unspoken vetoes. At the end of the sessions, it was clear that the European cabal no longer possessed a unified strategic voice.

This was not a technical failure but a political and moral one. The drama unfolded to reveal the disastrous erosion of what was supposed to be a shared belief system. What we witnessed was the slow disintegration of Western capitals treating legality, legitimacy, and power as interchangeable. Instead of a unified voice, a new alignment took shape. This was not the emergence of an absolute pro-Russian bloc but a growing cohort of states and leaders who now regard indefinite escalation as a liability. In short, an increasing number of leaders seek peace rather than an illusory victory in Ukraine.

The Broken Illusion

The fishtailing of French President Emmanuel Macron, long positioned as a pillar of Europe’s hardline posture, was the first telltale sign of the unraveling. His reversal of course in the days leading up to the summit was especially horrific for the Germans. According to senior EU diplomats cited by the Financial Times, the shift was viewed in Berlin as a betrayal. Chancellor Friedrich Merz, who had invested political capital in advancing the seizure plan, was left standing at the altar. However, Macron’s retreat was less ideological and more a matter of arithmetic. With French........

© New Eastern Outlook