Belgium rejects EU move to use frozen Russian assets to rebuild Ukraine

EU foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas said on Saturday the bloc should consider all options on how to maximise the use of Russian frozen assets to help Ukraine in the face of opposition from key player Belgium.

The EU froze some €200 billion of Russian central bank assets after the 2022 invasion of Ukraine, the vast majority of which are held by the international deposit organisation Euroclear in Belgium.

“Ministers acknowledged the need to address Ukraine’s financing gap and to hold Russia accountable for war damages,” Kallas said after talks with EU foreign ministers in Denmark.

“To achieve this, it is crucial to explore all available avenues while minimising the potential risks,” she added.

Last year, the European Union, along with its G7 partners, used the interest being earned on the assets to back a US$50 billion loan to Ukraine that is still being paid out in instalments.

But there is pressure from a number of more hawkish EU states to do more to make use of the assets, with mooted options including confiscating them outright or seeking greater profits by ploughing them into riskier investments.

“We are also advancing the work on the use of the Russian frozen assets, because it’s clear that the predator has to pay for what he did,” said EU chief Ursula von der Leyen during a visit to Estonia on Saturday.