Belgium's refusal to support the plan to withdraw Russia's frozen assets at the summit was a serious blow to Ukraine and its European allies. This was reported by Politico newspaper on December 4.
"When the discussion broke off for lunch without reaching an agreement on Russian money, the reality opened up: modest Belgium, a country with a population of 12 million, was not going to allow the so—called reparations loan at all," the publication says.
The publication stressed that it was at this moment, when the European Union and Ukraine were trying to coordinate their strategy, contradictions arose that weakened their positions in the international arena. This decision also pointed to the growing internal disagreements of the EU on important issues related to sanctions and relations with Russia.
On the same day, Bloomberg reported that the Belgian authorities rejected a new legal proposal from the European Union to use frozen Russian assets to secure a loan to Ukraine. It was clarified that Brussels fears legal consequences for the country.
On December 3, Politico reported that the European Commission intends to submit a plan to obtain approval from Belgium for the use of frozen Russian assets. Later, Belgian Foreign Minister Maxim Prevost said that the authorities of his country consider the confiscation of frozen Russian assets to be the worst possible option for financing Ukraine.
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