Europe to launch international commission to compensate Ukraine for war damage

European leaders are set to meet in The Hague on December 16 to launch an International Claims Commission aimed at compensating Ukraine for the hundreds of billions of dollars in damage caused by Russia’s invasion.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy is expected to attend the one-day conference, which is co-hosted by the Netherlands and the 46-nation Council of Europe, Caliber.Az reports, citing foreign media.

The commission will assess claims submitted to Ukraine’s Register of Damage, a database created in 2023 that has already received more than 80,000 applications from individuals, companies, and public bodies.

Claims can cover destruction, loss, or injury caused by Russian acts from February 24, 2022 onwards, including alleged violations of international law such as attacks on civilians, religious sites, and forced deportations.

More than 50 countries and the European Union have drafted a Council of Europe convention to create the commission, which will take effect once ratified by at least 25 signatories and after sufficient funding is secured. Around 35 nations are expected to sign the convention at Tuesday’s meeting.

The initiative comes amid ongoing U.S.-backed diplomacy aimed at ending the war, now in its fourth year. However, plans for compensation could be complicated by proposals for amnesties for wartime atrocities in any future peace deal, a measure previously suggested by the administration of U.S. President Donald Trump.

The World Bank estimates that Ukraine will need $524 billion for reconstruction over the next decade, nearly three times its 2024 economic output. The figure does not include additional damage caused during 2025, when Russian attacks on utilities, transport, and civilian infrastructure intensified. Options under discussion for funding the commission include frozen Russian assets held by the EU.

Founded in 1949, the Council of Europe is Europe’s oldest intergovernmental organisation, tasked with promoting democracy, human rights, and the rule of law across the continent. The Hague-based commission will mark the second stage of an international mechanism to ensure Ukraine receives reparations for the damage inflicted during the war.

By Aghakazim Guliyev