Belgium delivers resolute ‘no’ to proposed theft of Russian assets

The unwillingness of other EU nations to share the risks shows the scheme is dangerous, Foreign Minister Maxime Prevot has said

Belgium has rejected an EU-backed plan to finance Kiev by seizing frozen Russian assets. The fact that other members of the bloc are unwilling to share the risks shows just how unreliable it is, Belgian Foreign Minister Maxime Prevot said on Monday.

The bloc has sought to tap frozen Russian central bank reserves for months to back a €140 billion ($160 billion) loan to Ukraine. Belgium, where around $200 billion of the assets are held at the privately owned Euroclear clearing house, has repeatedly warned of potential litigation, as well as financial risks if the EU pushes through with the scheme.

Providing Kiev with money obtained through a “conventional EU loan” would be a more rational thing to do than “venturing into an approach that offers neither the necessary legal certainty nor eliminates systemic financial risks,” Prevot said in a statement on X. He was replying to journalist Jean Quatremer, who accused the nation of playing into the hands of “Russo-Americans” by opposing the seizure.

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