Belgian Prime Minister Bart De Wever has cautioned that the European Union’s push to use frozen Russian state assets to support Ukraine could undermine the chances of securing a future peace deal in the nearly four year long war.
In a letter sent to European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen and reviewed by Reuters, De Wever argued that rushing ahead with the proposal would make the bloc partly responsible for closing the door on possible negotiations. Belgium’s position is pivotal since most of the Russian sovereign funds held in Europe sit inside the Brussels based clearing house Euroclear.
At the heart of the Commission’s plan is the idea of lending Ukraine proceeds from the immobilised Russian central bank holdings. Kyiv would use the money for defence spending and to cover regular government needs. De Wever said such an approach breaks with historical precedent and could carry long term diplomatic consequences.
He wrote that assets frozen during wartime had never been redirected while fighting was still ongoing. Instead, he said they had traditionally been handled during postwar settlements when the losing side was required to make reparations.
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EU leaders attempted at a summit last month to agree on a framework that would shift about one hundred and forty billion euros in Russian sovereign assets toward a loan for Ukraine. Talks stalled when Belgium declined to sign on.
De Wever also noted in his letter that his government had not received any draft legal text from the Commission. EU officials say a proposal meant to reassure Belgium and address legal concerns will be presented this week, covering the years 2026 and 2027.
Belgium holds roughly one hundred and eighty five billion euros of the frozen Russian assets. A further twenty five billion euros is frozen elsewhere in the bloc, mostly in France and Luxembourg.
Belgium has previously insisted that any plan involving sovereign Russian assets should include other G7 countries with similar holdings. Canada, Japan, Britain and the United States have all frozen Russian state funds and have coordinated sanctions policy with the EU since the invasion of Ukraine in early 2022.
Supporters of the plan inside the EU argue that the frozen holdings offer a significant way to sustain Ukraine’s war effort as the conflict continues. The United States and European partners have provided tens of billions of dollars in military and financial aid since the start of the invasion.
The Commission’s upcoming proposal will decide whether Belgium is willing to reconsider its stance. Until then, the EU’s effort to craft a unified policy for using the frozen Russian funds remains on hold.
