Zelenskyy and some 30 countries to approve compensation body for Ukraine damages

THE HAGUE, Netherlands (AP) — Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and some 30 other countries are expected to formally approve plans Tuesday to create a compensation body to pay for damages to Ukraine caused by the Russian invasion, but questions remain about where the money will come from.

The expected approval at a ceremony in the Dutch city of The Hague follows peace talks in Berlin with U.S. President Donald Trump’s special envoy Steve Witkoff, Trump’s son-in-law Jared Kushner and German Chancellor Friedrich Merz. Zelenskyy voiced readiness to drop his country’s bid to join NATO in exchange for Western security guarantees, but rejected the U.S. push for ceding territory to Russia.

“These security guarantees are an opportunity to prevent another wave of Russian aggression,” he said, in response to journalists’ questions “And this is already a compromise on our part.”

The Council of Europe, the continent’s preeminent human rights organization, has facilitated the International Claims Commission which will allow Ukrainians to seek compensation for “damage, loss or injury” caused by the Russian Federation since the full-scale invasion began in February 2022.

The commission will assess claims made to the already up-and-running register of damages, which was launched during a Council of Europe summit in Iceland in 2023. “There will be no reliable peace without justice,” Zelenskyy told leaders at the summit by video address from Kyiv.

Some 80,000 claims have already been filed with the register, which is based in The Hague.

Questions remain about where the claims commission will get its funding. The Council of Europe is adamant that Russia must foot the bill but there is no clear pathway for forcing Moscow to pay up. One proposal is to use some of the tens of billions of dollars in frozen Russian assets held in Europe.

Twenty-five countries must sign on for the commission to launch but more than 30 are expected to join, an unprecedented number for the start of a Council of Europe treaty.

The majority will come from Europe, and the European Union has indicated it will join as well, but Mexico, Japan and Canada have also sent delegations to the signing.

Many of the same countries have also backed a new international court, also under the umbrella of the Council of Europe, to prosecute senior Russian officials for the full-scale invasion of Ukraine.

Zelenskyy is also scheduled to address the Dutch parliament and to meet with the country’s king, Willem-Alexander.