Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskiy has become a regular feature of European Union (EU) leaders’ summits, either travelling to Brussels to attend in person on invitation, or tuning in remotely from Kyiv.
There is a different feeling to the closed-door discussions when the wartime Ukrainian leader is present in the room. Europe’s biggest conflict since 1945 feels a lot closer and Zelenskiy’s message packs more of a punch.
He joined leaders again on Thursday, sitting in on the portion of the EU summit that discussed the Ukraine war. Upon arrival Zelenskiy did a lap of the table, embracing each of the leaders before taking a seat.
The Ukrainian president has looked a tired figure on some of his recent visits to Brussels, but this time he had cause to smile, and crack the odd joke. The day started with news that the EU and the US had approved new sanctions, limiting Russia’s ability to sell its oil and gas.
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US president Donald Trump, who has alternated between blaming Russia and Ukraine for holding up a peace deal he desperately wants to broker, sanctioned two of Russia’s largest oil companies, the first US sanctions on Moscow since Trump’s return to the White House.
Coming on the back of Trump’s decision to abandon a plan to meet Russian leader Vladimir Putin in Budapest, the sanctions are a boost to Kyiv.
In Brussels diplomats struck a deal on a fresh round of EU sanctions, which include a ban on future imports of Russian liquefied natural gas (LNG). Late-night talks on the eve of the EU summit saw Slovakia lift its opposition, allowing the sanctions to be approved.
Speaking after he left EU leaders, Zelenskiy said European friends were “real friends”, who had stood by Kyiv since the beginning of the war.
Trump’s hot and cold approach has left Europe shouldering the financial burden of supporting Ukraine on the battlefield.
Military aid from Washington has dried up. The Trump administration is happy to keep supplying weapons to Kyiv, on the condition Ukraine, EU states or other Nato members pay for them.
The Ukrainians are likely to run low on funds in the second half of next year and Zelenskiy will first look to his allies in Europe for help.
Big contributors, such as Denmark, the Netherlands and other Nordic states, feel others are not pulling their weight.
Earlier this year Kaja Kallas, the EU’s top representative on foreign affairs, proposed tying contributions to countries’ economic heft, meaning France, Italy, Spain and Ireland would have had to cough up a lot more money for Ukraine. Capitals were not fans of the idea and the plan fell flat.
António Costa, the European Council president who chairs the summits, said Europe would do “whatever it takes” to support Kyiv as the war heads towards its fifth year.
National budgets are under the cosh and the EU knows it won’t find tens of billions of euro down the back of the couch.
Hence, a legally creative plan to make use of Russian central bank assets frozen in Europe.
The idea is to tap that cash to extend a €140 billion loan to Ukraine, filling up its financial war chest for at least two years. The money would only be repaid to Russia if Moscow compensates Kyiv for the destruction its invasion has caused.
“We need it in 2026 and better to have it at the very beginning of the year, but I don’t know if it is possible,” Zelenskiy said of the proposed loan.
The sanctioned Russian assets were frozen in Euroclear, a Belgian securities depository, after Russia invaded Ukraine in February 2022.
Belgium needs solid assurances any legal risk will be shared by all EU states. “If we want to do this, we will have to do this all together,” Belgian prime minister Bart De Wever said.
“We want guarantees if the money has to be paid back, that every member state will chip in, the consequences cannot only be for Belgium,” he said.
The Ukraine war was far from the only item on the summit agenda. For the first time the European Council meeting discussed housing, a topic where the EU has traditionally played no role.
Leaders were also discussing pressure the bloc was under to meet 2040 climate targets, a push to cut back Brussels’ rules and regulations, migration policy and plans to boost the union’s defence industry.
