Oleh Rybachuk, head of the NGO Center for Joint Actions and former Deputy Prime Minister for European Integration, stated this on Espreso TV."Europe views threats to our budget as threats to itself. That's why it's focused on ensuring that March is not the last month we have funding for our budget. Europeans are soon planning serious discussions about using frozen Russian assets.Right now, Belgium isn't the problem. Russia has cleverly exploited Donald Trump's greed by suggesting that these funds, if not allocated to Ukraine, could instead be used to develop bilateral Russian-American business relations.Russia essentially dangled about a hundred billion dollars in front of Trump, and he's already eager for it and fighting to get it. European diplomats are complaining about American pressure. But as always, action generates reaction," Rybachuk noted.According to the politician, the head of the European Central Bank stated that the legal framework for frozen Russian assets is ironclad, and that Russia cannot win this case in any court. However, the Americans are pressuring countries that depend on them more heavily, and four countries are now saying alternative options should be considered. But there aren't many alternatives."The other option is seeking bilateral contributions—similar to the Ramstein format, but for financial support—where each country declares what it's willing to contribute to Ukraine's financing. This is more complicated, but we should take hope from Merz's statement that Europeans have changed their decision-making process.Europe has several funds that could provide money, but accessing them requires consensus. Merz said that while such decisions normally require consensus, a decision has already been made on frozen assets, and management authority has been transferred to the European Commission. In other words, a political decision will be made to use these funds by qualified majority vote, not consensus," Rybachuk concluded.On December 12, EU ambassadors officially approved the procedure for extended freezing of Russian assets.