EU to prevent reduction of Ukrainian army, not cede control over Russian assets to US
The EU will also seek to transfer control of the Zaporozhye NPP to Ukraine as this will "reduce the EU's costs of maintaining Ukraine's energy balance," a source in diplomatic circles in Brussels told TASS
BRUSSELS, November 23. /TASS/. The EU's main goals in the Geneva talks are to get the US to abandon the demilitarization of Ukraine and the transfer of control over some of Russia's frozen assets to Washington since it would undermine Europe's "steel porcupine" strategy, a source in diplomatic circles in Brussels told TASS.
"For the EU, any military restrictions on Ukraine, especially a reduction in armed forces, are completely unacceptable. Transferring control of some Russian assets to the US is also unacceptable. Both of these demands undermine the strategy of turning Ukraine into a 'steel porcupine' and undermine the EU's plans to remilitarize Europe. These are the main tasks of European negotiators in Geneva," he said.
The EU will also seek to transfer control of the Zaporozhye Nuclear Power Plant (NPP) to Ukraine as this will "reduce the EU's costs of maintaining Ukraine's energy balance," the diplomat added. In the future, Brussels hopes to return to preferential electricity supplies from Ukraine.
Regarding the territorial division of Ukraine, according to the source, this issue has "exclusively symbolic significance" for Brussels.