BRUSSELS, December 1. /TASS/. The European Union’s move to provide the so-called reparations loan to Kiev based on the Russian sovereign assets held in the West could impede efforts to resolve the Ukraine conflict, Belgian Foreign Minister Maxime Prevot told Politico Europe.
"It is now clear that the assets can play an important role in a peace plan. Our action must not create obstacles to a peace plan," he said.
He also criticized the "obstinacy" of the EU leadership, which had failed to find a way to financially support Ukraine and insisted on using the Russian assets "without knowing how to do it nor understanding the risks that come with it."
Meanwhile, European officials and diplomats have privately voiced serious concern about the position of Belgium and the country’s Prime Minister Bart de Wever, who had earlier sent a letter to the European Commission, warning that the potential seizure of Russia’s assets could be an obstacle to settling the Ukraine conflict.
The officials are particularly concerned about Belgium’s departure from the EU’s common policy of increased pressure on Russia and its tendency to side with the US administration’s stance. "There are members of the [US] administration who want to do business with Russia," said an EU official, adding: "The assets thing doesn’t work for them."
Russian assets in Europe
EU countries seek to develop legal mechanisms for using Russia’s frozen assets, particularly to provide loans to Ukraine. Most of the assets - slightly over 210 billion euros - are in the Belgian securities depository Euroclear, which has repeatedly opposed an asset seizure, noting it could prompt Russia to take legal action in order to seize European or Belgian assets in other parts of the world.
On Thursday, Euroclear warned that the use of the frozen Russian assets in Ukraine’s favor could increase the EU’s debt and deter investors.
Russian Justice Minister Konstantin Chuichenko told TASS earlier that the country’s leadership had already been presented with options for Moscow’s response to a potential seizure of Russian assets by Western nations. Kremlin Spokesman Dmitry Peskov, in turn, stressed that Moscow would not leave such actions unanswered.