Simon Harris (Wicklow, Fine Gael)

Ireland agrees with that principle. The European Union is clear that Russia needs to pay for the destruction. What we also need to do - and based on what the Deputy said, the Ukrainian ambassador is correct - we have to find lawful ways of doing this. We have to work with international partners. There are some member states in the Europe Union that have concerns around this for a whole variety of domestic economic reasons. They need to be teased through as well. If there was a way forward to better utilise that resource, how do we utilise it? Some member states talk about utilising it for the immediate military needs of Ukraine. We do not get directly involved in that in terms of lethal military equipment because of our neutrality. There are also the budgetary needs of Ukraine, which are real, and the reconstruction needs as well.

I would hope we would see some sort of blended approach where we would be able to utilise such resources for a variety of purposes, including the reconstruction. The broader point of all of this is that we all hope we can get to a point where we start talking about reconstruction. That is why we really need to see in the coming days if the next phase of work being proposed by President Trump can yield progress in terms of getting Putin to a negotiating table where he would meet with President Zelenskyy and try to negotiate an enduring peace that respects the territorial integrity of Ukraine.

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