The European Union has a proposal for how to turn Russian frozen assets into a giant loan for Ukraine. If it fails, it could further weaken Europe’s global image.

Diplomatic tensions escalate as Putin reportedly dismisses peace terms while former Russian president warns EU over frozen assets amid ongoing Ukraine conflict.

Ukraine wants "real peace, not appeasement" with Russia, its foreign minister said on Thursday at the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe, the security and rights body seeking a role for itself in a post-war Ukraine.

Several top Ukrainian officials were expected to be in Brussels on Wednesday for meetings with European national security advisers, President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said.

Helping Ukraine defeat Russia is a cheaper prospect for Europe than giving into the Kremlin’s concessions, according to a new study titled “Europe’s Choice” out of Norway.

The European Union is trying to lend Ukraine tens of billions of dollars, as support from Washington wanes, Russia ekes out gains on the battlefield and Kyiv edges closer to a funding crunch early next year.

European leaders in a conference call this week voiced distrust of US efforts to negotiate an end to Russia's war in Ukraine, according to German news weekly Der Spiegel, which said it had obtained

U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio was expected to miss Wednesday's meeting, which will unfold during high-stakes negotiations in Moscow and in Europe about Ukraine's future.