European Union leaders are meeting in Brussels to discuss further backing for Ukraine, including the use of Russian frozen assets to provide a 140-billion-euro ($163.27bn) loan to the war-torn country, drawing fury from Moscow.European Council President Antonio Costa welcomed Ukraine’s Volodymyr Zelenskyy to Thursday’s summit as a “future member” of the bloc, announcing that a “political decision” would be made on the plan to use cash balances from frozen Russian central bank securities to cover Kyiv’s funding needs in 2026 and 2027.Recommended Stories list of 3 itemsend of listSwedish Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson said he saw “broad support” for the measure. His Finnish counterpart, Petteri Orpo, said he hoped the European Commission would come up with a concrete proposal soon, so assets would be available next year.But Belgium, home to the Euroclear securities depository that holds the biggest tranche of frozen assets – worth some $225bn – expressed doubts over its legality.“I have not even seen the legal basis for the decision yet,” Belgian Prime Minister Bart De Wever told reporters upon his arrival at the summit. He said his country would “stop the decision” if Belgium’s demands were not met.“I share the Belgian prime minister’s concerns but am confident we will take a step forward,” German Chancellor Friedrich Merz told reporters.EU High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy Kaja Kallas said the bloc was ready to work on a mechanism to ensure Belgium received the legal guarantees it was seeki …
