Russian leader Vladimir Putin announced the release of Hubbard during his meeting with U.S. envoy Steve Witkoff.

"I hope you will consider the possibility of resuming trilateral talks," U.S. special envoy Steve Witkoff told Putin.

"When we see Russia rebuilding its Arctic military footprint, pursuing hybrid strategies against its neighbors, and reshaping the security of the Arctic, it impacts the EU as a whole," said European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen.

Colleagues asked their Hungarian counterparts to explain their position, but they did not, one diplomat said.

"This step shows our commitment to supporting Ukraine's path to EU membership," the EU's Enlargement Commissioner Marta Kos said.

"It would be simply wrong to split us apart on our way into the EU — I hope not. Morally wrong," President Volodymyr Zelensky told EU leaders.

"Without a determined European Union capable of making strong decisions Putin would have gone much further by now," Zelensky said, before calling on the bloc to double down on its support.

"I am standing up for Ukraine's interests solely and the people of Ukraine. We were attacked, we were occupied, our people were killed," Zelensky said when asked to comment on Trump's latest attacks against him.

"We have to classify so that we know how we can shape the support and solidarity with Ukraine in the future," Austria's Chancellor Christian Stocker said.

"I don't like that there are 100 billion euros ($112 billion) from the European budget for Ukraine, that this money should be borrowed," said Czech Prime Minister Andrej Babis.

"We supported Trump's energy ceasefire but we see Russia did not respect it, and so we have to increase the pressure," von der Leyen told journalists, before announcing that the EU is working on a new 22nd package of sanctions against Russia.

The talks apparently failed to yield a breakthrough on the fate of €200 billion ($227 billion) in Russian assets frozen by Euroclear under Belgian jurisdiction.

Russia has exploited an EU sanctions loophole to unfreeze $3 billion worth of assets held by Belgium's Euroclear, according to a Flemish media report, and Austria's Raiffeisen Bank could be about to execute the same maneuver.

"These are frozen Russian assets held in Europe, belonging to Russians who are destroying Ukraine and killing people there every day... the idea of releasing these assets is completely out of the question," said Finnish Prime Minister Petteri Orpo.

"All of us in Europe want this war to end. And for that to happen, strong signals are needed — more real pressure on Russia and more defense support for Ukraine," Zelensky wrote on social media upon arrival.

"Every step now to help the Russians increase their financing of the war is a bad sign. We very much stick to Volodymyr Zelensky's view on this," Swedish Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson.

What Russia is doing is "appalling and... horrific, and it illustrates that Putin is not interested in peace. That's why we must manifest our support for Ukraine in the practical ways that we can," said Irish Prime Minister Micheal Martin.

BRUSSELS, Belgium — Ukraine's EU membership bid does not need to advance "as soon as possible" anymore, according to the latest draft conclusions of the Oct. 15-16 summit of EU leaders in Brussels, due to pressure from Bulgaria and Hungary.

Ahead of each summit, common conclusions

Editor's Note: Following publication, the Kyiv Independent received the revised draft conclusions, which set out a less ambitious position on Ukraine's bid for EU membership. Read the story here.

BRUSSELS, Belgium — Leaders of the EU's 27 member states have a Ukraine-packed agenda when