Europe must stop playing middleman and start leading on Ukraine
www.euractiv.com
On both security and trade, the EU has drifted into the role of payer and middleman, financing arrangements that serve US priorities while limiting its own ability to act independently

*Op-ed by Apostolos Thomadakis, Research Fellow and Head of the Financial Markets and Institutions Unit at the Centre for European Policy Studies (CEPS), and Head of Research at the European Capital Markets Institute (ECMI). *

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Europe [must design a] European security framework for Ukraine, anchored in EU and NATO commitments, with American support but not American primacy. It means pursuing trade policy from a position of strength, resisting coercion and diversifying energy and technology partnerships so Europe cannot be held hostage.

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The Ukrainian document itself notes that “lasting peace shall be based not on concessions and free gifts to Putin, but on a strong security framework that will prevent future aggression”. Europe must ensure that framework is European-led – otherwise, it risks financing an American-designed settlement that leaves its own security fragile.

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At stake is not only Ukraine’s sovereignty but Europe’s credibility as a geopolitical actor. The time has come for the Union to stop paying for other people’s strategies and start writing its own.