Bloc leaders meet to discuss Ukraine financing – DW – 12/18/2025

Farmers from across Europe are descending on Brussels to protest against a proposed free trade deal with the South American trading bloc Mercosur.

Hundreds of tractors are expected to block roads in the Belgian capital during the two-day summit.

The EU’s agricultural industry is concerned that less-regulated products from South American economies, including beef and sugar, will undercut the EU’s own yields.

Hopes of signing an EU-Mercosur deal in the coming days, which would create the world’s largest free trade zone, were dashed when Italy joined France in demanding a delay.

They also fear plans put forward by the European Commission to reform the bloc’s agricultural subsidies.

Pan-European agricultural lobby group COPA-COGECA said it expected around 10,000 people from 40 national farming groups to join the protest.

Ahead of a key EU debate on repurposing frozen Russian assets as war debts to Kiev, Volodymyr Zelensky called on Europe to prove to Putin that prolonging the fighting in Ukraine is futile.

Most EU members agree that they want to use Russia’s frozen assets to help Ukraine.

Here’s an overview of all the key questions related to the issue you wanted answers to but didn’t know who to ask.

Read DW’s full backgrounder on Russian assets seized in the EU.

A top priority for the group is how to continue funding Ukraine, especially as the US has withdrawn its support under President Donald Trump.

The International Monetary Fund (IMF) has said Kiev needs €137 billion ($160 billion) over the next few years.

The European Commission has proposed extending a €90 billion “compensation loan” to Ukraine unless the war ends and Russia agrees to pay for damages.

The money will be taken from around €210 billion of frozen Russian assets held in the EU, mostly in Belgium.

European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said, “It’s up to us how we fund the fight for Ukraine. We know the urgency of it. It’s intense. We all feel it. We all see it.”

However, Belgium has strongly opposed it, fearing Russian retaliation. Hungary and Slovakia, the two members with closest ties to Russia, have also opposed the proposal.

A qualified majority of at least 15 of the bloc’s 27 member states, representing at least 65% of the total population, could put the proposal forward, but it remains to be seen whether enough members will want to overrule Belgium.

It is expected that the talks will continue for additional time.

Good morning and thank you for joining us as we launch our blog on the two-day EU Leaders’ Summit.

The talks will be particularly important for Ukraine, as the EU seeks to take greater responsibility for funding the country’s defense against a nearly four-year-long full-scale Russian invasion.

The group is seeking funding to meet Ukraine’s economic and military needs for the next few years.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky is set to join EU leaders as a guest.

Keep reading for more on this and other issues being discussed at the summit.