Welcome to the Brussels Edition. I’m Suzanne Lynch, Bloomberg’s Brussels bureau chief, bringing you the latest from the EU each weekday. Make sure you're signed up.

More than a month after the European Commission presented its 19th sanctions package targeting Russia, EU leaders are poised to give the final signoff at their summit tomorrow in Brussels.

The package, which includes a phase-out of LNG purchases, targets Russian banks, crypto exchanges and entities in India and China, marks the latest effort by the EU to punish Russia for the war in Ukraine. But agreement on the proposal had stalled for several weeks as Austria, Hungary and Slovakia threw up roadblocks.

Austria wanted the package to unfreeze assets linked to Russian tycoon Oleg Deripaska to help compensate Raiffeisen Bank International AG for penalties it paid in Russia. The country ultimately gave up the request after it received little support.

Hungary followed suit on Monday, while Slovakian Prime Minister Robert Fico told the parliament in Bratislava this morning that his country would endorse the package if its demands are met.

The agreement is likely to be the key deliverable at the summit, as the EU scrambles to show continuing support for Ukraine amid flip-flopping by the US.

Robert Fico Photographer: DOMINIC GWINN/AFP

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy will travel to Brussels for the one-day summit amid signs that the planned meeting in Budapest between Donald Trump and Vladimir Putin has been scrapped for now.

In the background, European nations are working with Ukraine on a 12-point proposal to end Russia’s war along current battle lines, Bloomberg reported. Among its proposals – a peace board chaired by Trump.

Members of the “Coalition of the Willing” will gather in London on Friday for further discussions, while NATO chief Mark Rutte is set to meet with Trump at the White House today.

Also on the summit’s agenda will be a discussion on EU competitiveness, with several member states expected to raise concerns about relations with China following Beijing’s announcement of plans to significantly tighten controls on its exports of rare earths and other critical materials. These inputs are essential to a range of European sectors from electric vehicle batteries to defense manufacturing.

As Alberto Nardelli and Jorge Valero report today, the Commission is preparing a list of trade measures by the end of the month that can later be deployed against China to boost its negotiating leverage. The EU’s trade chief Maros Sefcovic held talks with his Chinese counterpart Wang Wentao yesterday without reaching an agreement that addressed the bloc’s concerns.

The Latest

• Lithuanian Defense Minister Dovile Sakaliene resigned today following public clashes with the prime minister, escalating a crisis within the Baltic nation’s fragile ruling coalition.
• ECB Vice President Luis de Guindos said he is satisfied with the body’s present interest-rate settings. “The current ECB interest-rate level is adequate,” he said today, the final day that officials are allowed to comment on monetary policy before the one-week quiet period ahead of the Oct. 30 rate decision.
• France and Spain are calling on the EU to stick with plans to ban combustion engine cars in the bloc after 2035, at odds with German Chancellor Friedrich Merz ahead of a meeting of leaders in Brussels this week.
• Helge Lund, the chairman of Nordic weight-loss drug manufacturer Novo Nordisk stepped down as part of a wider shakeup at the troubled company.
• Europe’s auto industry is preparing for production disruption within days because of China’s export restrictions on semiconductors made by Nexperia.
• Norway’s sovereign wealth fund, the world’s biggest, is giving artificial intelligence a key role in protecting its $2 trillion portfolio from climate risk.

Seen and Heard on Bloomberg

China needs to urgently roll back restrictions on exports of rare earth materials and stick to WTO rules, Thomas Byrne, Ireland's EU Affairs and Defense Minister said.
“Trade is always a two-way street, and I don’t think any country benefits from bringing unilateral measures on trade,’’ he told Bloomberg Television in an interview, especially countries like China that depend on the rest of the world to buy their products. Byrne, who spoke to Bloomberg Radio’s Stephen Carroll in Brussels, also warned that work on simplifying EU regulations is ‘’very urgent’’ but should not compromise the bloc’s climate ambitions.

Chart of the Day

Amova Asset Management has been snapping up French government bonds, betting the country is “too big to fail” even as ratings companies slash its credit score. “When push comes to shove, France will be supported,” Steve Williams, who manages around $7 billion as head of EMEA global fixed income at Amova, said in an interview. Elsewhere, funds at State Street Corp. and BlackRock Inc. are avoiding forced sales of French debt holdings by changing their investment rules.

Coming up

• Western Balkans Leaders’ Summit press conference in London later today
• Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy press conference in Sweden later today
• EU leaders summit in Brussels tomorrow

Final Thought

The necklace and earrings set of Empress Marie Louise. Photographer: MAEVA DESTOMBES/AFP

French authorities have described it as priceless. But the last time the diamond-encrusted bow, which once belonged to Empress Eugenie, was sold, it commanded a reported €6.72 million. What it’s worth now, three days after it was stolen as part of a raid on the Louvre Museum in Paris, is much more difficult to establish. The Ocean’s Eleven-style robbery has been widely publicized so the pieces can’t be sold, or worn, in public. And black markets carry deep discounts. Read our story on what may be in store for stolen jewels.

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