EU fails to back frozen Russian cash loan - but vows to support Ukraine

EU leaders have agreed to help support Ukraine's "financial needs" for the next two years - but stopped short of releasing billions of euros in frozen Russian cash to help fund the country's defence on Thursday night.

A decision to use €140bn (£122bn) in Russian assets held in a Belgian clearing house was pushed back until December after concerns were raised by Belgium.

The controversial move would be on top of sanctions the bloc has imposed on Russia - the latest targeting the Kremlin's oil revenues.

The Brussels meeting came ahead of a London summit on Friday, where UK Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer will urge European leaders to boost long-range missile supplies to Kyiv.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky is set to attend the meeting of the so-called "coalition of the willing", alongside Nato Secretary General Mark Rutte, Denmark's Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen and Netherlands' Dick Schoof. Other leaders, including French President Emmanuel Macron, will join virtually.

European ministers held talks in Brussels on Thursday about how billions of euros worth of frozen Russian cash could be made available to Ukraine as a so-called "reparations loan".

Many EU governments had hoped the leaders would back the plan and request the European Commission, the EU's executive body, to work out a formal legal proposal in the coming weeks.

But the final text, adopted after a marathon discussion, stopped short of greenlighting the plans. Instead, it asked the Commission for "options for financial support based on an assessment of Ukraine's financing needs".

"Russia's assets should remain immobilised until Russia ceases its war of aggression against Ukraine and compensates it for the damage caused by its war," the declaration added.

The aim is now for EU leaders to iron out the remaining concerns at another summit in December.

"This is a topic that is certainly not trivial. It's very complex," European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said following Thursday's talks. "It was also very clear there are points to be clarified."

Antonio Costa, European Council President, sounded a positive note, saying the bloc had "committed to ensure that Ukraine's financial needs will be covered for the next two years".

"Russia should take good note of this: Ukraine will have the financial resources it needs to defend itself," he told a news conference.

Zelensky, who was in Brussels for the summit, welcomed the outcome as a signal of "political support" for the notion of using Russian assets to keep Kyiv in the fight.

There are a number of legal complexities surrounding using Russia's money.

Belgium, in particular, has been reluctant to back using the frozen assets as it is nervous about having to shoulder any potential consequences should Russia legally challenge Euroclear, the clearing house where the money is located.

Belgian Prime Minister Bart De Wever said his country needed concrete and solid guarantees before supporting the plan, pointing out that it was "unchartered territory".

The Belgian government has argued any potential litigation could ultimately create a major financial crisis.

"Can this [plan] be legal? That is a very good question... There are no clear answers," De Wever said. "We will in any case be buried in litigation. That seems like a certainty."

Russia has criticised the EU's proposals.

"Any confiscatory initiatives from Brussels will inevitably result in a painful response," said Russian foreign ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova.

The EU's latest sanctions followed US measures against Russia's oil industry - the first time Donald Trump has sanctioned Moscow as he grows frustrated over Vladimir Putin's refusal to end the war.

After the US sanctions were announced on Wednesday evening, the US president confirmed that a planned meeting with his Russian counterpart in Budapest had been shelved indefinitely.

"Every time I speak to Vladimir, I have good conversations and then they don't go anywhere," he said.

The US sanctions targeted Russia's oil giants Rosneft and Lukoil. In response, Putin said the "unfriendly" US measures "will have certain consequences, but they will not significantly affect our economic well-being".

The economic impact of the sanctions is expected to be minimal, as Moscow's biggest customers include China, India and Turkey - though Trump has urged these nations to halt purchases.

Oil is one of Russia's largest exports. Ukraine wants to use long-range missiles to target Russian oil and energy plants in a bid to limit its war-fighting resources.

Zelensky had hoped to secure Tomahawk cruise missiles from the US last week - but Trump refused, saying the weapons were "highly complex" and take a year of intense training to use.

The EU's latest punitive measures against Russia saw member states agree to phase out Russian energy imports, as well as targeting three Chinese businesses - two oil refineries and an energy trader - that are "significant buyers of Russian crude oil".

The measures are "meant to deprive Russia of the means to fund this war", said Kaja Kallas, the EU's foreign affairs spokeswoman, adding that they also send a message that "Russia can't outlast us".

China condemned the decision, which a commerce ministry spokesperson said "seriously undermined the overall framework of China–EU economic and trade co-operation".