EU Will Look 'Weak' If It Doesn't Confiscate Russian Funds, Zelensky Tells Crunch Summit

"We have to find a solution today," said EU Commission President Ursula von der Leyen. "We won't leave the European Council without a solution for the funding for Ukraine for the next two years."

The 27 leaders of the European Union are gathered in Brussels Thursday, trying to figure out a way forward on raising at least €90 billion to meet Ukraine's financial and military needs for the next two years. Central to this is an expected decision on confiscating Russian assets, but major hurdles remain - especially the fact that Belgium is dead set against it, and this is where the bulk of these assets are held.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky is in Brussels too, and he's laying the guilt-trip and emotions on thick. He warned on Thursday that Europe will be seen as "weak" if it doesn't confiscate the funds.

"I know that Russia is threatening different countries over this decision. But we shouldn't be scared of these threats – we should be scared that Europe will be weak," he said. He's also said that painful sacrifices will be needed to protect Europe.

There have been no breakthroughs reported following the morning session, however, also as the threat of major Russian legal action, including lawsuits, hangs over Belgium:

There is no breakthrough in the discussions yet. The main sticking point remains the financial guarantees that Belgium is asking from the other 26 EU member states. This “reparations loan” – that is what the European Commission calls it – is Russian money that is frozen here in the EU.

This will be the backup for a loan to Ukraine, which in theory will have to be paid back by Russia after the war in terms of reparations. But this is all in theory, because maybe Russia is never going to pay reparations, and that’s why Belgium is asking for guarantees.

The total amount of these assets is 210 billion euros ($247bn) across countries in Europe, but the European Commission has proposed starting with a 90-billion-euro ($106bn) loan for the next two years, so Belgium wants guarantees for at least this amount.

The Kremlin has decried all of this as making plans for outright theft, and that it would respond accordingly, placing Belgium most directly in its crosshairs.

While the EU argues that there is no "theft" as "the right of the Russian Central Bank to make a claim on its money and Euroclear’s duty to repay will remain in tact," Belgian leadership has remained resistant to EU leaderships' scheming.

Prime Minister of Belgium, Bart De Wever recently voiced the following: “The European states pushing for the confiscation of Russian assets in Belgium are mostly those bordering Russia, which have experienced Soviet tyranny and are psychologically at war. But we are not at war with Russia. And we do not wish to be at war with Russia. We must negotiate based on reality, not fantasy. In reality, you don’t steal money from a foreign central bank. Stealing from a central bank is like robbing an embassy.”