Costa welcomes Zelensky to the European Council. ‘Future EU member’ praises new sanctions

Brussels – The friendship between the European Union and Ukraine is also based on sanctions against Russia and financial support to Kyiv. The President of the European Council, Antonio Costa, at the press point before the leaders’ meeting, recalls that the EU “will support Ukraine as long as necessary and at any cost.” Next to him smiles Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, who arrived in Brussels today, October 23, to take part in the European Council meeting. 

Beyond Costa’s words in support of Kyiv, concrete signals are also coming. This morning, European leaders approved the nineteenth package of sanctions against Moscow. “Both European and the United States’ sanctions are crucial to our cause,” Zelensky confirmed in front of journalists. The package of punitive measures once again reduces the possibility of Russian gas and LNG supplies on European soil and, as Costa recalled, will target the “Russian shadow fleet, as well as Moscow’s banking and energy sectors.” The point that the European Council still needs to clarify, however, is how the 27 will manage to use the blocked Russian assets to finance Kyiv’s public spending.

In these hours, leaders are looking for a legal way to use the Russian 180 billion frozen in Belgium. Moscow’s assets, frozen since 2022, are currently blocked in the Belgian financial institution Euroclear. The prospect of transferring them to support the Ukrainian war effort alarms some heads of state due to potential legal repercussions.

Costa recalled how, today, “the political decision will be taken to secure Ukraine’s financial needs for the next two years.” However, this decision will not be easy to achieve, as Belgian Prime Minister Bart De Wever confirmed that “until there are guarantees on risk neutralization and an agreement on a possible EU response to the legal consequences, Belgium will not give consent to the use of these funds.”

“The future member of the Union,” as Costa called Zelensky, cashes in on the EU’s promises, hoping for news later today. To questions about the supply of the American long-range Tomahawk missiles, he replies: “It’s Trump’s decision,” downplaying the tense conversation he had with the American president last week. The goal for all remains a ceasefire. Zelensky still considers it “possible,” and Costa calls it useful to avoid “the increase in Russian shelling of civilians, which makes us even more convinced of the necessity of support for Kyiv.” In terms of current events, just yesterday a Russian drone struck a kindergarten, killing a 12-year-old boy and a newborn girl.