Belgium open to reconsidering €210 billion plan if Europe shares risks
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Minister of Foreign Affairs of Belgium Maxime Prevot and Acting Minister of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine Andriy Sybiha during a meeting in Kyiv (Photo: REUTERS/Gleb Garanich)
Belgium is open to reconsidering the transfer of frozen Russian sovereign assets to Ukraine if the legal, financial and systemic risks are shared across Europe, Belgian Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Maxime Prévot said during a visit to Kyiv.
Belgium blocked the direct transfer of the assets to Ukraine in late 2025.
“The risks we identified then have not magically disappeared. But we have no objection in principle to using this money for the benefit of Ukraine,” Prévot said, Suspilne reported on Aug. 18.
About €210 billion in Russian sovereign assets are frozen in Europe, with the majority held by Belgium-based securities depository Euroclear.
Prévot said Belgium had expected other EU countries to share the risks associated with using the assets, including a potential scenario in which Belgium could be required to return the money to Russia 10 to 15 years later.
That support did not materialize, he said.
“Proportionally, this is unacceptable for our budget. But that solidarity never materialized, probably because many other capitals also understand the risks and did not want to share them,” Prévot said.
He stressed that Belgium’s previous opposition should not be interpreted as unwillingness to help Ukraine.
Legal and financial experts had identified genuine risks to the stability of European financial markets that governments needed to take into account, he said.
Instead of transferring the Russian assets, the EU decided on Dec. 19, 2025, to provide Ukraine with €90 billion in support for 2026-2027 from its own budget reserves.
Prévot said discussions over the frozen assets could return if Russia’s war continues and Ukraine’s financial needs increase after 2027.
Frozen Russian assets — what is known
European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said on Dec. 19, 2025, that Ukraine would be financed over the following two years through EU borrowing on capital markets.
Ukraine would repay the €90 billion only after Russia pays reparations, while Russian sovereign assets in Europe would remain frozen until then, she said.
Belgian Prime Minister Bart De Wever opposed the direct use of the frozen assets for a reparations loan, while Euroclear warned that it could take legal action against the EU if the funds were transferred to Ukraine.
The United Kingdom subsequently declined to use its roughly €8 billion in frozen Russian assets independently to support Ukraine.
The Financial Times also reported that French President Emmanuel Macron effectively blocked the EU proposal to use the €210 billion when he sided with opponents of the plan at a decisive moment.
German Foreign Minister Johann Wadephul said on Feb. 26, 2026, that the EU would no longer consider transferring the frozen assets themselves to Ukraine.
A European Commission representative later said the commission’s position differed significantly from that assessment.
EU foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas announced on March 31 that the bloc would allocate an additional €80 million to Ukraine from proceeds generated by frozen Russian assets, rather than from the underlying assets themselves.
Former senior officials from Germany, France and the United States called on the EU on Aug. 8 to urgently take control of frozen Russian central bank assets.
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