Everyone wants to know what Donald Trump has planned for Ukraine. The US President-elect has pledged to secure a negotiated end to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, but has yet to formally present his terms for any possible deal. At the same time, it is already clear that the new US administration will expect Europe to play a far more prominent role in the push for a sustainable peace. This creates opportunities for European leaders to seize the initiative.
In order to secure favorable terms in any future peace process, the West must approach negotiations from a position of strength. The only way Western leaders can achieve this is by dramatically expanding military assistance to Ukraine and intensifying economic pressure on Russia. Europe can show Trump that it’s ready to start leading on this without delay.
One major step would be using the more than €280 billion in Russian state assets currently frozen in European jurisdictions to support Ukraine economically and militarily, including by financing the production and purchase of US weapons. The case under international law for seizing these assets is strong. Both the US and Canada have already passed legislation to do so, while the British Parliament is moving forward with a report on how to use these assets to fund the war effort in Ukraine.
Using Russian assets to buy American weapons could certainly prove attractive to Trump, allowing him to claim a significant win for the US economy. Indeed, US House Speaker Mike Johnson has called the idea “pure poetry.”
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The energy sector is another opportunity for Europe to set the agenda in potential peace talks, while also creating further incentives for the incoming US administration. Trump has repeatedly underlined his intention to expand US energy exports. Meanwhile, EU Commission President Ursula von der Leyen commented in November that it would make economic and political sense for Europe to import LNG from the US instead of Russia.
Increased US energy exports to the EU, if combined with a lower price cap on Russian oil and further crackdowns on Russia’s shadow fleet of oil tankers, could substantially reduce Putin’s energy revenues. The Kremlin would find itself confronted with a further loss of global energy market share, while transatlantic economic ties would be strengthened.
With Russia already facing high inflation and an overheating economy, additional energy sector measures may help force Putin to the negotiating table under more favorable conditions for the West. But once talks begin, European governments must be ready to take serious steps to achieve a real peace in their neighborhood. Members of Trump’s team, including Vice President-elect JD Vance, have suggested that European troops should deploy to Ukraine to enforce a ceasefire. NATO and European leaders met in Brussels last month to discuss the issue. However, there is currently significant resistance in numerous European capitals to the idea of sending troops to Ukraine.
Regardless of whether peace talks result in a road map toward future Ukrainian NATO membership, any security guarantees offered to Ukraine are likely to require foreign troops to credibly enforce a ceasefire. European leaders should demonstrate their readiness to deploy forces on the condition that the United States backs them with the logistical, military, and political support necessary to make such an operation feasible. This would help win over the incoming Trump administration and send a powerful signal of transatlantic unity to the Kremlin. Critically, it would also increase the likelihood of European leaders being included as full partners in negotiations.
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Unless Ukraine receives credible security guarantees, any ceasefire negotiated in the coming months would almost certainly be violated by Moscow once Russia has had time to rearm. This should be at the forefront of European thinking ahead of possible peace talks.
Even without the resumption of full-scale hostilities, an insecure postwar Ukraine would be unable to recover economically and would be at risk of a major new exodus as millions sought to escape the uncertainty of a country on the brink of foreign conquest and collapse. Europe would face the prospect of a failed state on its doorstep, with Putin poised to renew his invasion under far more favorable circumstances.
With a new US policy toward Ukraine yet to take shape, now is the ideal time for European leaders to demonstrate the kind of decisiveness that has often been lacking since the onset of Russia’s full-scale invasion in February 2022. Throughout the past three years, the West’s collective response to the Russian invasion of Ukraine has been consistently dogged by delays, with promised aid often taking many months to arrive. This has given Russia time to dig in, while also convincing Putin that he can ultimately outlast the West in Ukraine.
European leaders now have an historic window of opportunity to shape the future of European security. Over the next few months, Washington will look to engage Moscow in discussions to end Europe’s largest invasion since World War II. European governments cannot afford to be bystanders as the fate of their continent is decided. Instead of waiting to see how the incoming US administration approaches the war, they should work proactively to create leverage by dramatically boosting support for Ukraine, increasing the costs of Russian aggression, and taking on a greater leadership role.
Doug Klain is a policy analyst at Razom for Ukraine, a US-based nonprofit humanitarian aid and advocacy organization, and a nonresident fellow at the Atlantic Council’s Eurasia Center.
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The views expressed in UkraineAlert are solely those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the views of the Atlantic Council, its staff, or its supporters.

The Eurasia Center’s mission is to enhance transatlantic cooperation in promoting stability, democratic values and prosperity in Eurasia, from Eastern Europe and Turkey in the West to the Caucasus, Russia and Central Asia in the East.
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Image: Under-Secretary of State for the Armed Forces Luke Pollard, French Minister of the Armed Forces Sébastien Lecornu, Polish Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Defence Wladysław Kosiniak-Kamysz, Italian Minister of Defence Guido Crosetto, and German Defence Minister Boris Pistorius attend press conference at Representative Centre of the Ministry of National Defence during the meeting of E5 - Defence Ministers of Poland, Germany, the UK, France and Italy in Warsaw, Poland on January 13, 2025. Group of five Minister of Defence is a European security mechanism in the face of new global challenges after Russian invasion of Ukraine and changing of administration in the USA. (Photo by Dominika Zarzycka/NurPhoto)