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.

Swedish 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 seeking. The risks on Russian assets needed to be shared, she said. Reporting from Brussels, Al Jazeera’s Hashem Ahelbarra said countries were “on the verge” of making an announcement, but alluded to wrangling over whether Kyiv should use the loan to buy European or US arms.

“The Germans, the French, and the Italians were saying: ‘If we release that money, it has to go to European manufacturers of weapons to be used to benefit Europe as well,’” he said. A senior official in Zelenskyy’s administration told news agency Reuters that Ukraine needed the funds by the end of the year and autonomy over how to spend them. Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova vowed a “painful response” from Moscow. She warned that any seizure of Russia’s assets would be illegal, describing their confiscation as “theft”.

Speaking at the summit, Zelenskyy thanked the United States and the EU for agreeing on new energy sanctions against Russia, saying they were “very important”. He received a boost on Wednesday when US President Donald Trump imposed sanctions on Russia for the first time since returning to the White House, targeting Russian oil giants Lukoil and Rosneft. (Aljazeera)