What happened during the EU summit:
- Russian military aircraft violated Lithuanian airspace.
- EU leaders in Brussels discussed migration and Ukraine.
- The Union did not agree on what to do with frozen Russian assets.
- Further negotiations will take place in December.
- Viktor Orbán accused the EU of influencing Hungary.
We have ended the online broadcast, we will continue to monitor developments and bring you reactions and analysis on how the EU will use frozen Russian assets.
00:10 - European Union leaders failed to agree on how to use frozen Russian assets to support Ukraine at a summit on Thursday, likely due to opposition from Belgium, which is believed to hold the largest number of frozen Russian assets.
In Brussels, the leaders only confirmed continued support for Ukraine and stressed the need to increase pressure on Russia to end the more than three and a half year long war. The joint statement also mentions frozen Russian assets. However, the text is vaguer in this part than originally proposed, due to objections from Belgium. The statement was not supported by Hungary, TASR reports.
There was no significant breakthrough on the oft-mentioned €140 billion “reparations” loan for Ukraine, which would be financed from frozen Russian assets. The final text of the conclusions merely calls on the European Commission to present options at the next leaders’ meeting in December.
22:48 - The summit in Brussels has just ended, writes the Politico portal.
We will bring you the results in a moment. We are waiting for the final press conference.21:16 - Belgium has softened the draft European Council conclusions on financial assistance to Ukraine. The new version no longer requires the European Commission to make a specific legal proposal, but only to present support options. In practice, this means that EU leaders have postponed a decision until later.
20:15 – Russian military aircraft violated Lithuanian airspace during EU talks on aid to Ukraine
President Gitanas Nausėda announced that Russian SU-30 and Il-78 aircraft briefly entered Lithuanian airspace near the border with Kaliningrad, just as EU leaders were discussing new aid for Ukraine in Brussels.
The Lithuanian Foreign Ministry will summon the Russian ambassador to protest the “reckless and dangerous behavior.” Nausėda called the incident a gross violation of international law and Lithuania’s sovereignty, to which the country must respond.
419:21 – Viktor Orbán gave a controversial speech in Budapest today, accusing the EU of preparing a puppet government for Hungary. Orbán warned that next year's elections will be a decision between peace and war. At a rally in Budapest, he declared that Brussels wants to"push Ukraine into the EU at all costs", which would supposedly bring war to Europe and funds would flow to Kiev. Orbán also reiterated that Ukraine must not join the union because it would threaten Hungarian agriculture, jobs and pensions.
18:59 – The EU's plan to ban the sale of cars with combustion engines after 2035 is being held back again by Slovakia and the Czech Republic. Both countries are questioning this EU move.
Slovakia claims that this target is unrealistic for European manufacturers and threatens their competitiveness - the same argument our diplomats used during the negotiations on the 19th sanctions package.
Prague added to this reservation and stated that it is waiting for the European Commission's proposal, which should bring possible amendments to the regulation on the sale of zero-emission vehicles by the end of the year.
417:07 – French President Emmanuel Macron posted on the social network X after meeting with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky in Brussels.
He said that France, together with its European partners and in close coordination with the United States, continues to support Ukraine in its search for a just and lasting peace. Macron also recalled that Russia continues to oppose the conclusion of a ceasefire.
Aux sides du Président @ZelenskyyUa à Bruxelles.
— Emmanuel Macron (@EmmanuelMacron) October 23, 2025
Avec nos partenaires européens et en lien étroit avec les États Unis, la France continue de souterin l'Ukraine pour trouver le chemin d'une paix juste et durable.
Alors que la Russie persist à s'oppose à un cessez-le-feu... pic.twitter.com/40bHbmqfKq
17:03 – While Viktor Orbán was unable to attend a summit in Brussels to mark the anniversary of the Soviet occupation of Budapest in 1956, protests against his government are ongoing in Hungary. The demonstrations are being organized by opposition politician Péter Magyar, who has emerged as the leading candidate for victory in the upcoming elections. Instead of negotiating with European leaders, Orbán is celebrating historic events at home, but he is facing a growing wave of resistance on the streets of Budapest.
16:56 – Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen has proposed that Norway join the European plan to finance Ukraine through a so-called “reparation loan”. Belgian politician Bart De Wever has once again blocked the European Commission’s proposal to use frozen Russian assets as collateral. Frederiksen said that although Norway is not a member of the EU, it supports sanctions and stands by Ukraine, so it would be natural for it to join. Norway’s sovereign wealth fund is worth around €1.7 trillion, while the EU needs guarantees of at least €170 billion.
16:43 – The most watched topic of today's summit will be whether the Union will use frozen Russian assets worth more than 200 billion euros to help Ukraine. But even European leaders have no idea exactly how much each EU country is actually holding in the form of frozen Russian assets. Belgium is likely to hold the most.
But Belgium is not the only country with billions in frozen Russian assets – although estimates show it has far more than other countries, according to Politico.
On the way to today's meeting, Belgian Prime Minister Bart De Wever said that one of the conditions for Belgium's agreement to use assets held by Euroclear, which manages frozen assets at the European level, would be that"all countries that have frozen assets act together with us."
"There are huge amounts of Russian money in other countries that are silent about it," he added, as quoted by Politico.
15:24 – France and Spain reject ban on diesel and petrol cars by 2035.
Paris and Madrid have argued that if the ban on zero-emission cars is lifted, the bloc will fail to achieve carbon neutrality by 2050, a commitment that is now binding under EU climate law and is likely to be discussed by EU leaders during Thursday's European Council meeting in Brussels, Euronews.com reports.
13:35 – A spokesman said that Chinese Foreign Minister Guo Jiakun is dissatisfied with the 19th EU sanctions package officially adopted on Thursday, which also targets entities in China.
"The European side is not in a position to make irresponsible statements about the normal exchange and cooperation between Chinese and Russian enterprises," the spokesman said.
13:10 – Ukrainian President Zelensky told leaders at the summit that: “anyone who postpones a decision on a complete freeze of Russian assets not only limits our defense, but also slows down the EU’s own progress. The time to act is now – and I urge your full support.” – writes euronews.com.
"I am grateful to the European Union for approving today the 19th package of sanctions against Russia. (...) We must not only defend ourselves, but together with all of Europe and the United States, put pressure on Putin to stop this war," the Ukrainian president said on the social network X.
Before the European Council meeting in Brussels, I met with António Costa. It was important to coordinate our positions.
— Volodymyr Zelenskyy / Володимир Зеленський (@ZelenskyyUa) October 23, 2025
I am grateful to the European Union for approving today the 19th package of sanctions against Russia – restrictions on the shadow oil fleet, the banking and…
12:50 – The chairman of the Progressive Slovakia movement, Michal Šimečka, held talks in Brussels today with French President Emmanuel Macron, Irish Prime Minister Micheál Martin, Estonian Prime Minister Kristen Michal, several European Commissioners and leading European politicians. The leaders of the liberal Renew Europe faction participated together in the so-called pre-summit before the European Council meeting.
"I assured our partners that Slovakia is more than Robert Fico. Unfortunately, our partners in the EU are no longer understanding what Robert Fico actually wants. During the negotiations on the 19th sanctions package, he was once again blackmailing the rest of the Union and demanding something that made no sense. Such behavior only weakens and isolates Slovakia," said Šimečka.
12:15 – European Council President António Costa said that a plan to provide a so-called reparation loan to Ukraine of 140 billion euros, financed from frozen Russian assets, will receive the support of European Union leaders during the summit in Brussels.
411:30 – Prime Minister Robert Fico and German Chancellor Friedrich Merz agreed yesterday during negotiations in Brussels on the need to adjust the plan to ban the sale of combustion cars, which may preserve the production of hybrids.
"Together with the German Federal Chancellor, we have concluded that the result of the growing pressure will most likely be some form of revision of this ban, for example in the form of continuing the production of hybrid cars," Prime Minister Fico wrote on his social network.
11:08 – EU foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas called for faster and more decisive action by the European Union against Russia. She was reacting to new US sanctions targeting Russian oil companies.
According to her, it is time for the European Union to show that it can act independently and take important steps, writes the politico.eu portal.
11:00 – The EU summit has officially begun. Aid for Ukraine will be discussed at the beginning. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky will also be in the room, reports the news portal euronews.com.
During lunch, the leaders will focus on defense. And later, they will discuss climate and competitiveness.
10:54 – The Hungarian Prime Minister will not attend the first part of the European summit because at 1:00 PM he will give a speech in Budapest on the occasion of the Hungarian national holiday, which commemorates the uprising against Soviet rule in 1956.
Orbán will arrive in Brussels around 5 p.m. Until then, Fico will represent him.
