Russia's frozen assets arising from sanctions in the wake of its invasion of Ukraine and held in Belgium are valued at over €180 billion. These have been earmarked by the EU as potential reparations to Ukraine. However, Belgium fears that releasing these could lead to it facing international arbitration claims from Russia. As a result, Belgium, which has called the EU proposal "fundamentally wrong," wants guarantees from other EU nations.

Estonian MEP Riho Terras (Isamaa) said Ukraine needs this funding urgently and immediately.

"Ukraine will run out of money around March. The European Union, if it wants Ukraine to continue standing on its own feet, both militarily and economically, must secure funding in the range of €90–180 billion, depending on how we assess it," Terras said.

"My view is that they [in Belgium] should be told as a point of fact: They benefit from all the organizations on Belgian territory — be it NATO or the European Union — so now it's time for Belgium to give back to those EU members and NATO members," Terras went on.

However, the use of frozen Russian assets is not solely dependent on Belgium. Foreign Minister Margus Tsahkna (Eesti 200) said European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen has still not presented a specific proposal on this. Although in principle, a solution to Belgium's concern already exists, one which he hopes will soon be forthcoming.

"The legal solution exists. The real fear has been whether everyone can be politically aligned," Tsahkna said. "We do not need all 27 member states. A strong majority is enough if the legal guarantees are provided to Belgium. So the question is largely about political uncertainty, also on Ursula von der Leyen's side. But I truly hope the proposal is put on the table next week."

Using the frozen assets would also reduce Russia's ability to pressure the U.S. in peace negotiations, he added. "This would provide a long-term funding decision and also remove the Russians from that money. The Americans would no longer be able to divide anything without the Europeans."

The Belgian government is under increasing diplomatic pressure. It stated in a letter to von der Leyen that using the frozen assets could actually slow down progress toward peace. This is precisely because the assets may be used as a bargaining tool in the negotiations.

Another core long-term Belgian concern has been that Russia could in the future gain the right to make a claim against it via international arbitration. Therefore, Belgium wants legal guarantees from other states.

German Chancellor Friedrich Merz has also discussed using the frozen assets with the Prime Minister of Belgium. He said that while the latter has "strong arguments" and concerns which Merz shares, "I believe we also have strong arguments for reaching our shared goal, which is to apply maximum pressure on Russia to end the war," Merz said.

A final decision on using Russia's frozen assets will likely be made at the European Council meeting in mid-December.

The Guardian reported Belgium has hit back against an EU plan to use Russia's frozen assets to aid Ukraine. Belgium hosts €183bn of Russian assets, about two-thirds of the Russian assets immobilized in the west, at the Brussels-based central securities depository Euroclear.

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