Belgian PM: Frozen Russian Assets Cannot Be Seized for Ukraine

Belgian Prime Minister Bart De Wever said that frozen Russian state assets should remain in Euroclear custody, as their seizure in favor of Ukraine could cause legal difficulties.

The Gaze reports on it, referring to Reuters.

The G7 countries froze about $300 billion in Russian state assets after Russia launched a full-scale invasion of Ukraine. About €210 billion of this amount is held in the EU, mainly in the form of bonds in the Belgian depository Euroclear.

Bart De Wever stressed that the withdrawal of these funds in favor of Ukraine would be accompanied by serious legal difficulties.

He explained that a significant portion of the assets belong to the Russian central bank and enjoy legal immunity, and political decisions regarding their confiscation could have dangerous consequences.

“Other countries will also withdraw their state funds. This will have systemic consequences and is also very dangerous from a legal perspective. I believe we should keep these state funds immobilized,” he said.

The Belgian Prime Minister stressed that the proceeds from frozen Russian assets could be used to support Ukraine, but the amount itself should remain untouched.

He compared these funds to “a goose that lays golden eggs,” noting that they should be preserved until peace talks, when “the goose can be put on the table.” For now, he stressed, it is wiser to leave everything as it is.

As The Gaze previously informed, the Ukrainian government has sharply criticized a decision by Euroclear, the Brussels-based clearing house, to distribute €3 billion from frozen Russian assets to compensate Western investors, calling it a dangerous precedent that threatens to erode European unity in confronting Moscow’s aggression.