Just in time for this week's informal meetings of defence and foreign ministers in the EU, Sweden, the Netherlands, Poland and Spain have jointly urged the European Commission to once again raise the issue of handing Russia's frozen state assets in Europe over to Ukraine.
"We need to come back to this discussion," said, among others, Foreign Minister Maria Malmer Stenergard (M) and her colleagues.
However, Belgium - where most of the frozen assets are located - continues to say no.
"This is not negotiable. The door is closed. Our prime minister will stand firm," Defence Minister Theo Francken said on Belgian television last week.
More air defence is needed
There are also clear nos from other quarters, in other areas of assistance.
After a summer with countless new Russian drone attacks against the civilian population in Kyiv, EU foreign affairs chief Kaja Kallas wants to see increased deliveries of anti-aircraft missiles to Ukraine.
She does not mention any countries by name - although it is clear between the lines that the finger is pointed at Greece and Spain, both of which have stocks of Patriot missiles.
Despite the pushback, however, there were no results when the defence ministers of the EU countries met in Ireland on Tuesday.
We did not receive any concrete decisions today, but calls and conversations about this and that will continue, Kallas promised at the press conference afterwards.
Calling in experts
The development of the war in Ukraine has turned many people's view of how modern war actually works upside down - not least when it comes to the use of drones.
Kallas is now taking action by launching an expert group next week to consider what European countries need to do on the defence front.
"The goal is to gather some of the brightest minds. We haven't been fast enough, even though the threat level is increasing," says the foreign minister.
Facts: Frozen Russian state assets in the EU
The European Commission estimated last autumn that there were a total of 210 billion euros in frozen Russian state assets in the EU, the majority of which - 185 billion - with the securities institution Euroclear in Belgium.
However, a proposal from the Commission to lend at least €90 billion of the money to Ukraine never materialised after Belgium vetoed it. The country was concerned about being solely responsible in a possible future compensation case and received support from Italy, among others.
Instead, EU countries agreed to raise a joint loan of 90 billion euros to support Ukraine in 2026 and 2027.
