Belgium, home to most of the frozen Russian assets, today reiterated its conditions for them to be used to help Ukraine, threatening otherwise to oppose the measure, which is on the agenda of the 27 summit in Brussels.

“I want full mutualization of risk,” said Belgian Prime Minister Bart de Vever upon his arrival for the summit, stressing that in the event of a problem “the consequences cannot only concern Belgium.”

“If the money has to be returned, each member state (should) contribute” so that Belgium does not take this risk alone, he added.

De Wever finally demands that the Russian assets located in the other countries allied to Kiev be used as well.

“We know that there are large amounts of Russian money in other countries, which continue to be silent on this issue,” he said.

“If these three demands are met, which seem to me perfectly reasonable, then we will be able to move forward. Otherwise I will do everything I can at the European level, as well as at the national level, politically and legally, to block this decision”, he underlined.

The European Commission has proposed a financial arrangement that would allow it to continue funding Kiev by relying on Russian central bank assets frozen after the invasion of Ukraine, but without confiscating them.

EU leaders are due to discuss this “compensation loan” in favor of Kiev during today’s summit in Brussels, and Commission officials hope they will give the green light to draw up a more detailed legal proposal.

Belgium, where most of these assets are held within the Euroclear financial institution, fears that it will have to pay for itself in the event of a problem and wants a credible solidarity mechanism to be established to ensure that other EU countries or the Union budget will guarantee the eventual return of this money if necessary.