Belgium halts EUR 140 billion in frozen russian assets to Ukraine: EU postpones decision until December

Belgium has blocked an EU initiative to provide Ukraine with EUR 140 billion in a so-called "reparations loan" that was planned to be financed from profits from frozen russian assets. According to the Financial Times, due to Brussels' position, the issue was postponed until December, and Kyiv is unlikely to receive the funds in early 2026, as the government had hoped.

The plan envisaged that the EU would not confiscate russian assets directly, but would use them as collateral - future profits from them would be used to repay the loan to Ukraine. However, Belgium, which hosts the Euroclear depository, where most of the EUR 190 billion of russian funds is stored, opposed it. Brussels fears lawsuits and financial countermeasures from Moscow.

Belgian Prime Minister Bart de Wever said his country needed "absolute clarity on the legal basis for such a move and guarantees from other states," stressing: "A legal basis is not a luxury."

Despite the postponement of the decision, European Council President António Costa assured that the EU "has taken a key political decision to provide full financial support to Ukraine in 2026-2027," although technical issues remain unresolved.

French President Emmanuel Macron called the loan "the main mechanism for supporting Ukraine," while German Chancellor Friedrich Merz acknowledged that Belgium "has raised very serious issues that need to be clarified."

President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, who was present at the summit, stressed that Ukraine has been counting on these funds since the beginning of 2026: "We need the money in 2026, and it would be better if it was at the very beginning of the year, but I don't know if that is possible."

EU leaders will return to the issue of the "reparations loan" on December 18.

As a reminder, the US will not support the EU's plan to expand the use of frozen russian assets.

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