Media: Belgian government and European Commission to hold crisis meeting on Russian assets

Senior figures from the European Commission and the Belgian government are set to meet on Friday 7 November in an attempt to resolve a political deadlock over the use of frozen Russian state assets to finance a €140 billion reparations loan for Ukraine.

As reported by Politico, according to two senior EU officials, Belgium is resisting a plan by the European Commission to use sanctioned Russian funds to support Ukraine without fully confiscating them, as the assets are held by the Brussels-based financial services company Euroclear.

Belgian Prime Minister Bart De Wever fears that Russia could file a lawsuit over the initiative and that his country might have to pay billions to Moscow.

During the EU leaders' summit in October, he demanded stronger assurances from EU leaders to protect Belgium from financial and legal risks that could appear due to this initiative.

Deputy finance ministers failed to make progress in talks on the reparations loan on 4 November and the European Commission warned that time is running out.

"The longer we now run delays, the more challenging it will become. It may open questions on some possible bridging solutions," EU Economy Commissioner Valdis Dombrovskis told reporters in the Bulgarian capital of Sofia on Tuesday.

Politico notes that if Kyiv does not receive the funds by spring, Ukraine will face a budget deficit next year.

The European Commission has warned EU governments that if there is no agreement on using Russian assets, they will have to support Kyiv from their own budgets.

The Commission is expected to present Belgium with a memorandum outlining alternative financing options for Ukraine, which would involve EU borrowing. There is hope that De Wever, constrained by Belgium's fiscal situation, may relent once he sees there are no other viable options.

At the latest summit, EU leaders removed the reference to a €140 billion loan for Ukraine from the official conclusions as a concession to Belgium.

The softened text merely "invites the Commission to present, as soon as possible, options for financial support based on an assessment of Ukraine's financing needs". Importantly, the text does not specify any concrete measures to achieve these goals.

However, the EU stated that the issue of using frozen Russian assets to support Ukraine remains on the agenda, and a final decision will be made in December 2025.