Europe Nears Deal on Russian Assets After Talks in London

European leaders are increasingly confident they will reach a deal to use frozen Russian assets before the end of the year following talks in London, even as a gulf remains between Europe and the US on providing security guarantees for Kyiv.

Volodymyr Zelenskiy and his allies made “positive progress” on using immobilized Russian sovereign assets to back a €90 billion ($105 billion) loan for Ukraine’s reconstruction, UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer’s office said following the meeting on Monday. European leaders are optimistic an agreement can be reached before Christmas, and perhaps even as soon as this week, people familiar with the matter said, asking not to be named discussing private assessments.