Is a Ukraine peace deal inching closer?
Coffee House Shots
The Spectator
4.4 • 2.2K Ratings
🗓️ 9 December 2025
⏱️ 13 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
This week Keir Starmer hosted the French President and the German Chancellor in Downing Street as the E3 moved closer to a landmark agreement: seizing around €100 billion in frozen Russian assets to fund Ukraine’s war effort. It’s a dramatic shift that has soothed some fears in Kyiv – but it has also reopened long-running arguments in Europe about property rights, sanctions and how far the West is willing to go. What does this bold move mean for the conflict, for Ukraine’s future and for Europe’s relationship with Washington?
Meanwhile, as US–Russia shuttle diplomacy intensifies, Donald Trump’s oscillating positions continue to unsettle allies. Are we inching closer to a peace deal – or stuck in yet another cycle of drafts, red lines and diplomatic back-tracking? And, with Putin holding firm on territorial demands, is any agreement remotely realistic?
James Heale is joined by Mark Galeotti and Tim Shipman.
Produced by Oscar Edmondson
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Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | Give something clever this Christmas. |
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| 0:28.2 | Hello and welcome to Coffee House Shots. I'm James Seale and I'm joined today by honorary professor at |
| 0:32.1 | UCL Mark Galiotti and Tim Shipman, the Spectator's political editor. This week we've begun by having discussions between the so-called E3, the leaders of France, Germany and the United Kingdom, Kirstama, playing host at Downing Street. |
| 0:44.3 | Tim, what's the sort of state of play on Tuesday morning about European support for Ukraine? |
| 0:49.1 | Well, what looks like is now probably firmly in the works is a proposal that frozen Russian assets |
| 0:57.1 | totaling about 100 billion will now be seized and used to fund Ukraine's war effort. And were |
| 1:04.4 | there to be a piece, that money would be diverted into reconstruction efforts in Ukraine. |
| 1:10.2 | This has been a big sort of rolling dilemma in Europe. |
| 1:13.3 | There have been concerns about property rights, Belgium, which holds a lot of this money in its banks, |
| 1:19.0 | has been concerned about retaliation. |
| 1:20.8 | But those concerns seem to now have been brushed aside. |
| 1:24.2 | And after this meeting, there's a lot of warm noises coming out of Downing Street that they might be able to put this deal in place before Christmas. I think it still looks |
| 1:32.8 | more likely next week than later this week. But that could be a pretty significant effort. |
| 1:36.9 | It's also a response, of course, to the latest US national security strategy, which I think |
| 1:42.4 | most people in Europe felt was too Putin friendly. |
| 1:46.1 | And to a degree, Donald Trump is playing everybody off against everybody else. |
| 1:50.2 | He's always wanted to see Europe step up and make more effort. |
| 1:53.0 | And in essence, national security strategy in the latest state of play with the peace talks, |
... |
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