European Council summit
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Zelensky visits Brussels as EU leaders discuss Ukraine support, winter package and sanctions on Russia
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky travelled to Brussels for a European Council summit where he and the EU's top leaders — European Council President António Costa and European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen — discussed Ukraine's energy and financing needs for 2026 and 2027, progress in opening EU accession clusters, and a 22nd package of sanctions against Russia. EU leaders publicly reaffirmed that sanctions will stay in place until the war ends. The summit took place against a backdrop of renewed strain in Ukraine–U.S. relations, and internal EU divisions surfaced over the use of frozen Russian central bank assets.