Europe establishes Ukraine reparations commission amid push to end war 

Top European officials have agreed to launch an international commission to compensate Kyiv for hundreds of billions of dollars in damage from Russia’s continuing war on Ukraine.

The International Claims Commission for Ukraine, established in a treaty signed by 35 countries at Tuesday’s conference in The Hague, is to assess and decide claims for reparations, including any amounts to be paid out.

Attending the summit with leaders including Dutch Prime Minister Dick Schoof and European Union foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said making Russia pay for its crimes was “exactly where the real path to peace begins”.

“This war and Russia’s responsibility for it must become a clear example so that others learn not to choose aggression,” he said.

“We must make Russia accept that there are rules in the world.”

The commission was launched during a United States-led diplomatic push to end the war. US President Donald Trump told reporters on Monday that an agreement was “closer than ever” after he talked with the leaders of Ukraine, France, Germany, the United Kingdom and NATO.

Reparations a ‘path to peace’

The launch of the Netherlands-based commission, coordinated by the 46-member Council of Europe, follows the establishment about two years ago of a Register of Damages, which has already received more than 80,000 reparations claims from Ukraine.

Details on how any damages would be paid are yet to be worked out with discussions revolving around using Russian assets frozen by the EU, supplemented by member contributions.

The EU has indefinitely frozen hundreds of billions of euros of Russian funds held in Europe and is considering using the money to help Ukraine defend itself against Russia and rebuild.

Dutch Foreign Minister David van Weel stressed the importance of reparations in resolving the conflict, calling the establishment of the commission “a big step”.

“Without accountability, a conflict cannot be fully resolved. And part of that accountability is also paying damages that have been done,” he said.

Plans for loan to Ukraine

EU leaders are under pressure to reach an agreement on exactly what to do with the frozen Russian assets at a summit that starts on Thursday.

They are seeking ways to fund a loan to Kyiv that would be paid back by any eventual Russian reparations to Ukraine. Belgium, home to the international deposit organisation Euroclear, which holds most of the frozen Russian assets, is opposed to the proposal due to its potential legal repercussions.

The World Bank has estimated the cost of reconstruction in Ukraine from damage inflicted in the war up to December 2024 at $524bn – nearly three times Ukraine’s economic output that year.

That figure does not take into account the damage caused by Moscow’s intensified campaign targeting Ukrainian utilities and other critical infrastructure this year.