 "Belgian Prime Minister Bart De Wever speaks during a press conference with German Chancellor Friedrich Merz (not pictured), at the Chancellery, in Berlin, Germany on August 26, 2025. Reuters File")
Belgian Prime Minister Bart De Wever said the European Union’s plan to use frozen Russian state assets to fund Ukraine could endanger the chances for a potential peace deal to end the nearly four-year war.
“Hastily moving forward on the proposed reparations loan scheme would have, as a collateral damage, that we as EU are effectively preventing reaching an eventual peace deal,” De Wever said in a letter to European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, seen by Reuters.
The Financial Times first reported on the letter late on Thursday.
EU leaders tried at a summit last month to agree on a plan to use 140 billion euros ($162 billion) in frozen Russian sovereign assets in Europe as a loan for Kyiv, but failed to secure the backing of Belgium, where much of the funds are held.
The European Commission, the EU’s executive body, hopes to address Belgium’s concerns in a draft legal proposal which it will present this week on using the frozen sovereign assets to support Kyiv in 2026 and 2027, EU officials have said.
In the letter, De Wever also said Belgium had not seen “any proposed legal language by the commission”.