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

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy arrives in London today for a meeting of allies, with less to show than he’d hoped following yesterday’s summit in Brussels. 

Having signed off on the EU’s 19th sanctions package against Russia early on in their meeting, the bloc’s leaders failed to agree to a plan to tap Russian immobilized assets for Ukraine amid opposition from Belgium, punting the decision to December.

EU officials stressed that the plan was deferred, not scrapped, with the EU’s executive branch now set to come forward with a detailed proposal next month. But the delay is a luxury Ukraine can ill afford given that it needs an injection of funds by early next year.

Belgium’s stance was understandable given that most of the assets are held in Brussels-based clearing house Euroclear. Prime Minister Bart De Wever was tougher than most had expected during the closed-door meeting according to EU officials, insisting that other countries share the risk and calling for more details on how the scheme will work.

“It if looks like confiscation, smells like confiscation and talks like confiscation, maybe you could call it a sort of confiscation,” the Belgian premier said after the summit, pointing out that the plan to seize the Russian assets had never been done before.

EU Commissioner Valdis Dombrovskis insisted today that the proposal for a reparations loan using Russian assets was still the best option to help meet Ukraine’s financing needs.

Valdis Dombrovskis at the Berlin Global Dialogue. Photographer: Krisztian Bocsi/Bloomberg

“The main [financing] option is and remains the reparation loan because it is providing us with opportunities to have sizable financial support for Ukraine without creating debt sustainability problems for Ukraine,” he said in an interview on the sidelines of the Berlin Global Dialogue.

Noting that the International Monetary Fund is “increasingly worried” about Ukraine’s debt sustainability, Dombrovskis said that, in the context of the IMF program, “we can’t just continue giving loans to Ukraine.” It would be difficult to raise grants from member states on that scale, he added.

For Ukraine, the challenge of the next few months is colossal, particularly as it races to negotiate a new, four-year loan with the IMF before the end of the year. That’s not to mention its military needs.

In Brussels yesterday, Zelenskiy expressed quiet confidence that the US would ultimately provide the Tomahawk missiles the country needs. He’ll be hoping that today’s meeting of the Coalition of the Willing in London will also deliver commitments.

The Latest

• Voters in Ireland are set to elect a new president today, with a left-leaning candidate holding a sizable lead in opinion polls.
• Finland will host a summit for leaders of countries on the EU’s eastern flank on Dec. 16 to push their common messaging on defense initiatives. 
• French President Emmanuel Macron told EU leaders last night to consider using the bloc’s most powerful trade tool — the anti-coercion instrument — against China if they aren’t able to find a resolution to Beijing’s planned export controls on critical raw materials.
• EU leaders paved the way for a deal on ambitious new climate targets by agreeing to support key industries and cut red tape during the green transition at yesterday’s summit in Brussels. 
• German Chancellor Friedrich Merz said he’s optimistic that the US will exempt Rosneft’s German unit from Washington’s latest sanctions against Russia.

Seen and Heard on Bloomberg

EU Defense Commissioner Andrius Kubilius said the bloc’s members should use funds from a €150 billion investment plan for its defense industry to help Ukraine. “Ukraine needs our assistance. And that’s really our obligation,” Kubilius told Bloomberg’s Oliver Crook in an interview at the Berlin Global Dialogue. “What is for us very important that member states should use those SAFE loans to assist Ukraine.”

Chart of the Day

Business activity in the euro area unexpectedly reached its highest level since May 2024 as outperformance by Germany helped offset weakness in France. The Composite Purchasing Managers’ Index compiled by S&P Global increased to 52.2 in October from 51.2 in September, further above the 50 threshold separating growth from contraction. 

Coming up

• European Commission Executive Vice-President Teresa Ribera in Lisbon, at the VII Lisbon Conference on Competition Law and Economics this afternoon
• NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte, UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer and Ukraine’s Zelenskiy give press conference after “Coalition of the Willing” meeting in London this evening. 
• Commission President Ursula von der Leyen speaks at Berlin Global Dialogue 2025 tomorrow

Final Thought

Supporters of Prime Minister Viktor Orban wave Hungarian flags during a rally in Budapest, Hungary, on Thursday, Oct. 23, 2025.  Photographer: Akos Stiller/Bloomberg

Tens of thousands of Hungarians took part in separate rallies in Budapest less than six months ahead of pivotal elections in Hungary. Prime Minister Viktor Orban faces the most serious threat to his 15-year tenure, with most polls showing the opposition Tisza party of former regime insider Peter Magyar with a significant lead. Both camps managed to turn out large crowds in what was above all meant to be a gauge of Orban and Magyar’s ability to mobilize their voters. 

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