The European Commission has received a letter from Belgian Prime Minister Bart De Wever regarding the possibility and conditions for using frozen Russian assets located in Belgium to finance Ukraine in 2026-2027.

Source: European Commission Chief Spokesperson Paola Pinho, as reported by European Pravda

Details: The European Commission has received the letter from Prime Minister Bart De Wever concerning the frozen Russian assets and will soon present its legal assessment of the possibility of using them for the benefit of Ukraine.

"So I can confirm that the letter from Prime Minister Bart de Wever to President von der Leyen has been received," Pinho said.

Pinho added that work with member states, including Belgium, is ongoing "following the presentation and the sharing by President von der Leyen of the options paper, which put forward a number of options on how to address the commitment made by the European Council to address the financial needs of Ukraine for 2026-2027".

"On the basis of that options paper, intensive discussions have been taking place with the member states, including with Belgium, and we are advancing on this work," she noted.

Pinho reiterated that two days ago in Strasbourg, Commission President Ursula von der Leyen announced that the Commission is already prepared to table a legislative proposal on the use of Russian assets to finance Ukraine.

"But now, for the moment, of course, what we are trying to do is to really make sure that the concerns that have been expressed, and notably by Belgium and the Prime Minister, are addressed in a satisfactory manner so that everybody is comfortable with the positions that are being put forward by the Commission," she stressed.

She added that the Commission's legal justification will be presented "in the coming days".

As European Pravda previously reported, the EU is attempting to agree on a separate reparations loan for Ukraine using frozen Russian assets.

The European Commission hopes to persuade Belgium to support the scheme ahead of the leaders' summit on 18-19 December.

Background :

• However, these efforts have suffered a major setback, as shown by the letter from Belgian Prime Minister Bart De Wever to Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, in which he sharply criticises the proposed scheme.
• Meanwhile, media reports say that European countries are developing a Plan B should they fail to agree on the use of frozen Russian assets to provide a reparations loan to Ukraine, so that the country does not find itself without funding at the beginning of 2026.

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