Belgium was always at the heart of the European Union. Now it's at the center of tensions over a plan to use frozen Russian assets to fund Ukraine.

Brussels settles on a budget-backed loan after divisions derail plans to tap frozen Russian assets, offering Kiev short-term stability as war and diplomacy converge.

Europe’s 90-billion-euro interest-free loan to keep Ukraine’s economy and military from a budgetary blackhole through 2027 didn’t come about in the way some leaders wanted, but the fact it came about at all is a win for the bloc.

EU summit, Ukraine aid, frozen Russian assets, Belgium blocks plan, Bart De Wever, Brussels meeting, Kyiv funding crisis, Euroclear lawsuit, Russia Ukraine war, EU funding decision, Ursula von der Leyen,

Leaders of the European Union are gathering in Brussels for a summit set to decide on a a proposal to use frozen Russian assets to fund Ukraine's economic and military needs in the coming years as Kyiv and Moscow exchanged overnight drone attacks.

Senior Ukrainian negotiator Rustem Umerov will hold talks in Brussels on Wednesday with European leaders' national security advisers and then visit the United States, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said.

Belgium insisted on Thursday that its European Union partners must provide ironclad guarantees that it will be protected from Russian retaliation before it would back a massive loan for Ukraine. At a high-stakes EU summit in Brussels,