US Plans To Restore Russian Energy Flow Trigger Europe's Concerns

JAKARTA - President Donald Trump's administration proposed restoring Russia's energy flow as part of a grand plan to reconstruct Ukraine and reintegrate Russia into the global economy.

The Wall Street Journal report, revealed that the plan was contained in the attachment of peace proposals distributed to European partners in recent weeks.

In the proposal, American companies are said to be able to access around 200 billion US dollars (approximately IDR 3.3 quadrillion) from frozen Russian state funds to finance various projects in Ukraine.

One of them is the construction of a large data center that will use electricity from the Zaporizhia Nuclear Plant which is currently controlled by Russia.

The framework also opens opportunities for US companies to enter Russia's strategic sectors, including rare earth metal mining and oil exploration in the Arctic region, as well as reopening Russia's energy supply to Western Europe and the global market.

Several European officials who have reviewed the document questioned the level of seriousness of the proposal. An official even compared it to Trump's previous proposal to turn Gaza into a Riviera-style resort area.

Other European officials equate the US-Russian energy cooperation plan with Yalta's style of economic agreement.

The report also said European officials wanted to use Russian assets frozen in Europe to lend to Ukraine to meet the weapons and government operations.

According to European officials, the US plan risks ignoring European strategies to support Ukraine and maintain economic isolation of Russia.

This triggered rapid steps in various European capitals to act before Washington set parameters for the cooperation.

US officials argue the European plan will actually drain frozen Russian assets, while America's approach will involve major US financial institutions to increase the fund, with its potential value rising to around 800 billion US dollars (approximately Rp13.3 quadrillion).