EU sanctions should stay in place so long as Russia occupies Ukrainian territory, Minister for European Affairs Thomas Byrne has said.
Ukraine has come under significant pressure from the Trump administration to cede territory to Russia as part of any peace deal.
Speaking in Brussels ahead of a ministerial meeting, Mr Byrne said: "The entire basis of our support for Ukraine and our position against Russia and our actions against Russia is that [Russia] has breached international law. They've taken territory that's not theirs, and we have to get them out of there and get them to stop their war.
"There are peace talks going on, and we certainly want to see peace, but that peace has to be fair and just for Ukraine, and I certainly support the use of sanctions - Ireland always has - in order to use whatever the strongest possible leverage that we have as a European Union."
Mr Byrne said intense work was continuing this week to secure agreement on converting up to €210 billion in frozen Russian assets into a long term loan to help Ukraine meet its military, financial and reconstruction needs.
Despite growing opposition to the so-called Reparations Loan among a small number of member states, EU leaders will confront the issue when they meet in Brussels on Thursday.
"We're supportive of that work to try to get agreement," Minister Byrne told reporters. "Some issues have been resolved. There are other issues to work on [and] we have between now and the end of this week.
"It's a really, really difficult and complex issue, but I'm confident that we can come to an agreement with the various member states that have expressed some concerns."
He said the plan was about both supporting Ukraine and protecting the European taxpayer.
"There's a huge amount of money that has to be spent in Ukraine. Somebody has to pay [for] it, and it is right that it is Russia, and Russian assets that should have to pay that, Mr Byrne said.
Reparations commission to be launched
Meanwhile, EU foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas and Ireland's EU Commissioner Michael McGrath joined Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky in The Hague where they launched an international commission to facilitate reparations and compensation claims on Russia for launching the war in Ukraine.
A new International Claims Commission for Ukraine will be a legally established body which will assess and review eligible claims via the Register of Damage, which has been recording tens of thousands of claims for damages, loss and injury since Russia launched its full-scale invasion in 2022.
The Claims Commission will work as an administrative and fact-finding body designed to apply accountability to the Russian government for its invasion.
Some of the Reparations Loan money is earmarked for compensation claims channelled through the International Claims Commission.
The Register of Damage was established in 2023 under international law.
In September, ongoing negotiations to build on the work of the Register resulted in a draft convention establishing the International Claims Commission within the framework of the Strasbourg-based Council of Europe.
The council adopted a proposal yesterday on signing the convention at The Hague today.
Work is ongoing on establishing a Special Tribunal to hold Russian political and military leaders accountable for the war.
Ukraine and the Council of Europe signed an agreement in June to establish the tribunal with the EU expected to present a proposal to sign the instrument.
Commissioner McGrath, whose portfolio includes Justice and the Rule of Law, hailed the Claims Commission as a decisive step towards justice and a "major milestone" in Europe's support for the people of Ukraine "as they continue their heroic resistance to Russia’s brutal war of aggression".
He said in a statement: "The European Union has remained steadfast in standing with Ukraine, defending the rules-based international order that protects every state, and confronting impunity.
"Today, we move from principle to action - from aspiration to reality - embedding accountability at the heart of Ukraine’s future."
Ms Kallas has said that Russia cannot escape paying the bill for its war in Ukraine.
Speaking in The Hague, she said that the establishment of the commission sends a message to future aggressors that "if you start a war, you will be held to account".
France wants 'robust' security guarantees for Ukraine
France wants "robust security guarantees" for Ukraine before any talks on Kyiv ceding territory to Moscow to end Russia's war, a representative of President Emmanuel Macron's said.
"We want robust security guarantees first before any discussions on territory," said the adviser to Mr Macron, after Mr Zelensky held talks with US envoys and European leaders in Berlin aimed at reaching a deal to end the nearly four-year-old war.
"We've made progress on the issue of guarantees... thanks to a clarification on the form of US support," the source added.
The talks in Berlin have been building on a US plan for Ukraine that was initially deemed very favourable to Russia. Ukraine and European allies have since been working to revise it, with security guarantees and the question of territories key sticking points.
European leaders at the Berlin talks have proposed a force as part of US-backed security guarantees aimed at ensuring Russia would not violate an agreement to end the war.
Mr Zelensky has also hailed new security guarantees offered by the US, but said differences remained on the question of what territories Ukraine would have to cede to Russia.
Russia claims the annexation of several Ukrainian regions, which it does not entirely control.
Additional reporting AFP/Reuters
