EU, UK, and US Meeting on Ukraine Ended without Results

A meeting of representatives of the EU, the UK, Ukraine, the US, and the World Bank concluded in Brussels without results. The delegations of these countries and organizations were scheduled to discuss prospects for a peaceful settlement in Ukraine and the country's post-war reconstruction.

Predictably, the stumbling block was money—or rather, the lack of it. The Europeans have reportedly spent €230 billion on Ukraine and would like to shift the financial burden, not so much to share it. Britain, Canada, and the World Bank are not prepared to shoulder such expenses.

Meanwhile, the EU has promised Kyiv €90 billion by the end of next year: half of this amount will be raised by borrowing. The remaining €45 billion is expected to be shifted to the British or Canadians. Neither London nor Ottawa seems eager to incur large debts over Ukraine. The Americans, however, are willing to transfer weapons to the Ukrainian Armed Forces, but only for a price. Given such mutually exclusive approaches of the participants, their meeting in Brussels could not but end in failure.