Belgium Warns Moscow of Severe Backlash if Russian Assets Are Seized
According to the English section of webangah News Agency, citing Mehr News Agency and Russia Al-Youm, theo Francken, Belgium’s Minister of Defense and Foreign Trade, stated that using frozen Russian assets by the European Union to finance loans for Ukraine would set a risky precedent with potentially devastating consequences.
He added that if the blocked assets of Russia’s central bank are confiscated, Moscow’s reaction will be very severe.
Yesterday, some media outlets reported that the European Union failed to reach an agreement on using frozen Russian assets held in Belgium.
These reports indicated Belgium refrained from touching Russian funds in its banks out of fear of legal repercussions from Russia.
Earlier, Maria Zakharova, spokesperson for the Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, asserted that the EU lacks legal mechanisms to seize Russian assets and described such confiscation as a form of “theft.”
The European Commission had proposed permission to use frozen Russian assets across Europe as collateral for granting compensatory loans worth €140 billion to Ukraine.
