Belgian Prime Minister Bart De Wever speaks during a press conference with German Chancellor Friedrich Merz (not pictured), at the Chancellery, in Berlin, Germany August 26, 2025. REUTERS/Annegret Hilse

By Andrew Gray and Jan Strupczewski

COPENHAGEN (Reuters) -Belgium's Prime Minister Bart De Wever said on Thursday he had asked other EU leaders to give guarantees they would share the risks if frozen Russian assets held in his country were used to finance loans to Ukraine.

At a summit in Copenhagen on Wednesday, European Union leaders expressed broad support for the idea of using Russian assets frozen in the West to provide a 140 billion euro ($164.5 billion) loan to Ukraine but said they still needed to sort out complex legal and financial aspects of the operation.

Under international law, sovereign assets cannot be confiscated, so in organising the loan the EU would have to find a way to honour Moscow's claim on its central bank assets and to protect Belgium, where most of the assets are located, from Russian retaliation.

"There's no free money. There are always consequences," De Wever told reporters in Copenhagen. "I explained to my colleagues yesterday that I want their signature saying, if we take (Russian President Vladimir) Putin's money, we use it, we're all going to be responsible if it goes wrong."

WHO WILL SHOULDER THE RISK?

Most Russian assets held in Europe are in Belgium because it is home to Euroclear, the central securities depository, where the Russian money was when it was immobilised.

As U.S.-funded military aid for Kyiv is ending and many EU governments face fiscal struggles, the European Commission has proposed that the EU use the cash balances from frozen Russian central bank securities to support Kyiv in 2026 and 2027.

The Kremlin has condemned the proposal as "pure theft."

Most EU leaders would be glad to put the Russian assets to work for Ukraine to alleviate the financial burden of supporting Ukraine from their own national budgets, but Belgium and others do not want to risk being left to foot the bill.

European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said on Wednesday that the EU executive would make sure Belgium was not the only one bearing this risk.

RUSSIA HAS VOWED RETALIATION

Moscow has said it would go after those who are involved in seizing Russian central bank assets and has already filed lawsuits in Russian courts against Euroclear and the cash that Euroclear has in the Moscow securities depository.

Belgium is also worried about the personal security of Euroclear management.

"The director of Euroclear already lives under close protection, so it is risky what we are going to do," De Wever told reporters. "I want everybody to be aware of that, and I want a signature (that says) we're going in that boat with you, whatever it takes, wherever it may sail, and whatever it might encounter."

The Commission's plan boils down to front-loading future Russian reparations payments to Ukraine, using the immobilised Russian central bank cash.

But to make sure Belgium is not alone in carrying the risk that Russia has to be repaid early or that Russia never pays the reparations, the EU loan to Ukraine, which would be used to buy weapons and for the normal running of the country, will have to be guaranteed by EU governments and possibly other G7 countries.

Group of Seven finance ministers said on Wednesday they would look at options including using frozen funds in a coordinated and legal way.

This raises two questions: how much each government would be liable for, and who benefits from Ukraine's military purchases made with the loan.

LACK OF TRANSPARENCY OVER WHERE ASSETS HELD

De Wever said he also wanted full transparency from other European countries about where frozen Russian assets are held.

European governments are secretive about how many Russian assets they hold. A European Parliament research paper said that apart from the cash in Belgium, France might be holding 19 billion euros and Luxembourg between five and 20 billion.

Outside the EU, the paper said Japan had 28 billion euros, Britain 26 billion, Canada 15 billion, Switzerland six billion and the U.S. around four billion. The numbers could not be immediately verified and their total exceeds the widely quoted $300 billion total frozen in G7 countries.

The EU's top diplomat Kaja Kallas said on Wednesday it was not yet possible to set a deadline for completing the plan to use the frozen assets, adding: "It's not supported by everybody yet. We still have a lot of work to do."

($1 = 0.8512 euros)

(Reporting by Andrew Gray and Charlotte Van Campenhout; Writing by Ingrid Melander and Jan StrupczewskiEditing by Gareth Jones)