LONDON, December 8. /TASS/. The Nordic bloc is "growing irritated" that it is sending more money to Ukraine than other countries in the region, The Economist reported.

The magazine says the initiative to seize Russian assets has become "a crucial test of European resolve." Since the EU countries cannot reach a consensus on this issue because of Belgium’s resistance, the governments of the member states are forced to allocate assistance to Kiev from their budgets.

"The northern European governments that disproportionately provide such aid are growing irritated that the burden is not shared across the bloc," the Economist says.

It says Kiev may be left in dire straits by March or April if the EU does not open its wallet. A decision on the matter will be made at a summit of EU leaders on December 18. According to the magazine, the EU could theoretically approve a scheme to expropriate Russian assets without Belgium’s approval, but it would threaten a "deep internal split" in the union.

About 210 billion euros of Russia's sovereign assets are blocked in Europe, of which 185 billion are in the Euroclear depository accounts. Neither the European Commission nor the EU nations have officially mentioned the location of the remaining 25 billion euros. Russian Justice Minister Konstantin Chuichenko told TASS that the country's leadership has already submitted proposals to respond to the possible seizure of Russian assets by Western countries. Russian Presidential Spokesman Dmitry Peskov said that Moscow would not leave such actions unanswered.