Russian President Vladimir Putin expressed willingness to pay with Russian assets frozen by the United States as the entry fee to join as a ‘permanent member’ and to participate in the Gaza Strip Peace Council led by U.S. President Donald Trump. This is seen as an attempt to exploit President Trump's plan to have the Peace Council replace the United Nations in order to neutralize sanctions on Russia. Some analysts say Ukraine, pushed out of the international spotlight by the recent Greenland crisis, may face yet another setback.

According to TASS and other outlets, President Putin said on the 21st (local time) at a Russian security meeting that he had received an invitation from President Trump to join the Peace Council and would discuss participation. He stated that the $1 billion (approximately 1.469 trillion KRW) presented as the condition to obtain status as a ‘permanent member’ with no fixed term could be paid using Russian assets frozen by the U.S. government.

President Putin added, “The (remaining) frozen assets still in the United States could be used to rebuild regions damaged by the war after the conclusion of a Russia Ukraine peace agreement.” Bloomberg assessed that this appears intended to curry favor with President Trump in a bid to achieve the effective lifting of sanctions on Russia.

Since February 2022, when Russia invaded Ukraine, the United States, the European Union (EU), and other Western countries have imposed sanctions freezing Russia's overseas financial assets. According to the European Parliamentary Research Service and the U.S. Treasury, frozen Russian assets are estimated at $300 billion (approximately 440 trillion KRW). Most are in Europe, but assets tied up in the United States are also said to be around $5 billion (approximately 7.3 trillion KRW).

Western countries have regarded frozen Russian assets as both a measure to hit Russia's economy and a means to secure war reparations after the war. In Ukraine endgame talks led by President Trump, how to handle the frozen assets is counted among the key issues, intertwined with defining the war as ‘a war of Russian aggression’. With this in mind, the proposal is also suspected as an attempt to move President Trump to redefine the nature of the war in a way favorable to Russia. Some also see it as a bid by President Putin to use Council membership as a springboard back to the international stage.

Volodymyr Zelensky, the president of Ukraine, has found himself facing a situation in which President Trump appears to tilt toward Russia again via the Peace Council, at a time when global attention to the war in Ukraine has cooled rapidly this year. The World Economic Forum in Davos had initially been expected to continue discussions on ending the war in Ukraine, but as U.S.Europe friction over Greenland swallowed every issue, even the planned announcement of an $800 billion (approximately 1,175 trillion KRW) Ukraine support package was postponed.

Zelensky, who had even canceled a planned visit to Davos, agreed the same day to hold talks with President Trump in Switzerland on the 22nd after the latter made an abrupt proposal. Announcing the meeting, President Trump said, “I believe Russia and Ukraine have reached a point where they can come to an agreement,” and added, “I think both sides can conclude negotiations. If they do not, they would be foolish.” On the same day, President Trump's Middle East envoy Steve Witkoff and his elder son-in-law Jared Kushner will meet President Putin in Moscow. Frozen Russian assets are reportedly included on the agenda.

The Ukrainian outlet Kyiv Post reported that anxiety is spreading in Ukraine ahead of these two meetings. The hastily arranged and opaque purpose of the meetings could become a trigger that worsens the state of endgame negotiations, it said. Yuri Boyetsko, head of the U.S.-based nonprofit ‘Hope for Ukraine’, said, “President Trump is taking Europe's pushback as a betrayal and could express that anger directly at President Zelensky during this meeting,” adding, “President Trump is not simply a mediator for peace, but is acting as a proxy negotiator representing the interests of Russia.”