(MENAFN) Belgium has stated that it will not support the European Union's proposal to use frozen Russian sovereign assets as collateral for a major loan to Ukraine unless the financial risks are shared equally among all member states.

This plan, promoted by the European Commission, aims to raise approximately €140 billion ($160 billion) for Kyiv, with the hope that these funds could later be recovered from Russia as “reparations.”

However, Russia has strongly condemned any attempt to use its frozen assets, labeling it as outright theft. Belgium controls the largest share of these funds, held through the Euroclear clearinghouse based in Brussels.

Ahead of the EU leaders’ summit in Brussels on Wednesday, Prime Minister Bart De Wever reiterated his government's opposition to the proposal.

He declared that Belgium would “do everything in my power” to block the plan unless assurances are made that the financial risks will be distributed across all EU nations.

De Wever emphasized that using sovereign assets in this way is unprecedented, noting that “something that’s never been done before – not even during World War II,” and if the EU's “coalition of the willing” is not prepared to share the risks, “there’s no point in continuing.”

The prime minister also pointed out that there are large sums of Russian funds in other countries that have remained silent on the matter.

“We know there are vast amounts of Russian money in other countries that remain silent on this,” he said. “If we move, we must move all together. That’s European solidarity.”

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