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Belgian PM announces plans to push forward work to finance Ukraine

Bart De Wever reiterated his opposition to the seizure of Russia's assets, adding, however, that he supported a permanent asset freeze in Belgium’s jurisdiction, allowing reinvestment profits to be used to fund Kiev

BRUSSELS, December 18. /TASS/. Preparatory work on plans to finance Ukraine in 2026-2027 continues despite divisions among EU countries, Belgian Prime Minister Bart De Wever said while addressing the country’s parliament.

"Proposals for Ukraine funding plans are evolving as we speak," he noted, as cited by the VRT broadcaster.

De Wever reiterated his opposition to the seizure of Russia's assets, adding, however, that he supported a permanent asset freeze in Belgium’s jurisdiction, allowing reinvestment profits to be used to fund Kiev. The prime minister stressed that Belgium "fully supports Ukraine and is actively coordinating in this regard with the EU, NATO, and the Coalition of the Willing."

The premier added that a decision on asset seizure "is unprecedented," and that the issue "is integral to all peace plans for Ukraine." "Belgium needs written legal guarantees that all EU nations will fully share any financial risks," De Wever noted. Still, he pointed out that it was impossible to provide absolute guarantees in this case because the consequences of an asset seizure would be unpredictable.

Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban stated on Wednesday that the Russian asset seizure issue had been removed from the agenda of the EU summit set for Thursday and Friday. However, the news was refuted by several media outlets, including Politico and Bloomberg. Brussels officials have neither confirmed nor rejected the reports yet.

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