BRUSSELS, November 8. /TASS/. Experts from Belgium and the European Commission failed to make progress on the issue of expropriating frozen Russian assets at a technical meeting on Friday, negotiations will continue, the Belga news agency said.
"There has been no breakthrough in the technical negotiations between the European Commission and the Belgian government on the use of frozen Russian assets," the news agency reported, citing its own sources. Belga noted that the negotiations at the European Commission building on Friday were "constructive" and will continue.
At the EU summit on October 23, Belgium blocked the European Commission's plan to expropriate Russian assets to provide Ukraine with a "reparation loan," fearing retaliation from Russia. Belgium demanded legal financial guarantees from EU countries for potential future losses. The EU summit postponed the decision on this issue until December and instructed the European Commission to prepare various lending options to Ukraine for 2026-2027. The European Commission press service has repeatedly stated that expropriating Russian assets remains a priority.
Earlier, Russian Ambassador to Belgium Denis Gonchar told TASS that expropriating Russian assets under any scheme would be theft. He warned that Russia's retaliatory measures "would follow immediately and force the West to ‘count its losses’.".