Representatives of 34 countries and the EU signed an international convention in The Hague to create a Claims Commission that will enable compensation for Ukrainians, following Berlin talks this week that narrowed a U.S.-authored peace framework.Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky attended the ceremony, a May 2023 damage register has already logged more than 85,000 claims, and Council of Europe Secretary-General Alain Berset said the convention will enter into force after at least 25 ratifications and may take twelve to eighteen months.EU foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas pledged €1 million for preparatory work, pointed to frozen Russian assets estimated at about €260–€280 billion globally (around €210 billion in the EU) as the most obvious basis for compensation, and officials warned legal and political obstacles remain.