Belgian Prime Minister Bart De Wever on Thursday demanded that EU leaders share responsibility before using frozen Russian assets to fund a €140 billion loan to Ukraine.
The EU has frozen about €200 billion in Russian central bank assets, mostly held by the international deposit organization Euroclear in Belgium. Belgium has rejected calls to hand the money directly to Kyiv.
“We’re going to move into uncharted waters. This is very, very risky,” De Wever told reporters at a summit in Copenhagen.
“I want everybody to be aware of that and I want their signature to go in that boat with us, whatever it takes, wherever it may sail and whatever it might encounter.”
The European Commission proposed a plan to unlock €140 billion without touching Russia’s sovereign assets.
Under the plan, the EU would borrow matured funds from Euroclear and loan them to Ukraine, with any future Russian payments for post-war reparations used to repay the EU.
The Kremlin has called the plan “theft” and threatened retaliation, including seizing Western assets in Russia.
Meanwhile, Ukraine has received the seventh tranche of €4 billion ($4.7 billion) from the EU under the G7-backed Extraordinary Revenue Acceleration (ERA) initiative on Oct. 1.
The ERA program repurposes interest income from frozen Russian assets. The EU total contribution under ERA has reached €18.1 billion ($20 billion), with G7 countries pledging up to $50 billion in support to Ukraine through 2025.
Ukraine’s Ministry of Finance said the remaining funds under ERA are expected by the end of 2025.
“The ERA funds have become an important tool to meet budgetary needs in 2025,” the ministry said, quoting Minister Serhiy Marchenko.
“The issue of further use of frozen Russian assets for Ukraine’s needs remains on the agenda in meetings with European colleagues.”
Meanwhile, the EU is considering a larger plan to provide loans to Ukraine using Russia’s frozen central bank assets, known as “reparation loans.” Under the proposal, Russia would retain legal claim on the funds, converted into bonds, while Ukraine would receive loans that might not need repayment if Russia fails to cover war damages. The reparation loan could be as much as €130 billion ($153 billion).
Supporters argue that tapping Russia’s frozen assets is necessary to help Ukraine cover budget shortfalls, saying Moscow, not European taxpayers, should ultimately foot the bill.