BERLIN, August 26. /TASS/. Confiscating Russian sovereign assets, as some countries would like to do, is not a simple matter and would have systemic consequences, Belgian Prime Minister Bart De Wever said at a joint press conference with German Chancellor Friedrich Merz in Berlin.

"I know there are governments that dream of confiscating these funds, but I caution against it. It is not easy from a legal point of view," he said, noting that the assets of the Russian Central Bank are "legally inviolable." De Wever emphasized that if Europe signals to the world that it may confiscate sovereign funds for political reasons, other countries will withdraw their funds from the EU. "This would have systemic consequences and be dangerous legally," the prime minister added.

"In the end, when negotiations on a peace agreement are underway, in my opinion, everything can be discussed. But until that moment, I think it would be wise to keep the situation as it is today," De Wever said.

The Belgian prime minister recalled that the European Commission is using the proceeds from the refinancing of illegally blocked Russian assets to pay off Western loans issued to Kiev and partially fund arms supplies to Ukraine.

Earlier, the European Commission reported that it had spent 3.6 billion euros of illegally seized funds on these purposes.

Most of Russia's frozen sovereign assets in Europe — totaling just over 200 billion euros — are held at the Euroclear depository in Belgium. Euroclear has repeatedly opposed the expropriation of assets, warning that it could lead to Russia seizing European or Belgian assets in other parts of the world through legal action.