Belgium says EU states must share risk to use frozen Russian assets for Ukraine

By Andrew Gray and Jan Strupczewski

COPENHAGEN (Reuters) -Belgian Prime Minister Bart De Wever has asked other EU leaders to guarantee they will share the risks if frozen Russian assets held in his country are used to finance loans to Ukraine.

At a summit in Copenhagen on Wednesday, European Union leaders expressed broad support for the idea of using Russian assets frozen in the West to provide a 140 billion euro ($165 billion) loan to Ukraine, but said legal and financial aspects remained to be settled.

International law forbids the confiscation of sovereign assets, so the EU would have to find a way to continue to recognise Moscow's claim on its central bank assets and to protect Belgium, where most of the assets are located, from Russian retaliation.

"There's no free money. There are always consequences," De Wever told reporters in Copenhagen on Thursday. "I explained to my colleagues yesterday that I want their signature saying: 'If we take (Russian President Vladimir) Putin's money, we use it, we're all going to be responsible if it goes wrong'."

WHO WILL BEAR RISK OF CONFISCATING RUSSIAN ASSETS?

Most Russian assets held in Europe are in Belgium because it is home to the Euroclear securities depository.

As U.S.-funded military aid for Kyiv is ending and many EU governments face fiscal struggles, the European Commission has proposed that the EU use the cash balances from frozen Russian central bank securities to support Kyiv in 2026 and 2027.

The Kremlin has condemned the proposal as "pure theft".

Most EU leaders would be glad to employ the Russian assets to ease the burden of supporting Ukraine from their own national budgets, but some fear the financial and legal risks.

European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said the EU executive would ensure Belgium did not bear this risk alone.

Russia said on Thursday that the idea of using its frozen assets to provide loans for Ukraine was "delusional".

"In accordance with the principle of reciprocity, any EU attack on our property will be met with a very harsh response. They know this too," Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova told reporters.

FEARS FOR SECURITY OF EUROCLEAR MANAGERS

Belgium is also worried about the personal security of Euroclear management.

"The director of Euroclear already lives under close protection, so it is risky, what we are going to do," De Wever told reporters.

"I want everybody to be aware of that, and I want a signature (that says) we're going in that boat with you, whatever it takes, wherever it may sail, and whatever it might encounter."

The Commission's plan boils down to front-loading theoretical future Russian reparations to Ukraine, using the immobilised central bank cash.

But to make sure Belgium is not alone in carrying the risk that Russia has to be repaid early or never pays reparations, the EU loan, which would be used to buy weapons and for the normal running of Ukraine, will have to be guaranteed by EU governments and possibly other G7 countries.

The finance ministers of the Group of Seven Western economic powers said they would look at options including using frozen funds in a coordinated and legal way.

This raises two questions: how much each government would be liable for, and who benefits from the military purchases that Ukraine makes with the loan.

UNCLEAR WHERE ALL RUSSIAN ASSETS ARE HELD

De Wever said he also wanted full transparency from other European countries about where the frozen assets are held.

European governments are coy about the value of the Russian assets they hold. A European Parliament research paper said that, apart from the 185 billion euros or so held in Belgium, as cash or nearly-mature securities, France might be holding 19 billion euros and Luxembourg between five and 20 billion.

Outside the EU, the paper said Japan had 28 billion euros, Britain 26 billion, Canada 15 billion, Switzerland six billion and the U.S. around four billion. The numbers could not be immediately verified and their total exceeds the widely quoted total of roughly $300 billion frozen globally.

The EU's top diplomat, Kaja Kallas, said it was not yet possible to say when the asset release plan would be ready: "It's not supported by everybody yet. We still have a lot of work to do."

($1 = 0.8512 euros)

(Reporting by Andrew Gray and Charlotte Van Campenhout; Writing by Ingrid Melander and Jan StrupczewskiEditing by Gareth Jones)