Kremlin Insinuates All Parties Want Russian Assets, But No One Wants Responsibility

Dmitry Peskov. (Sergey Fadeichev / TASS)

JAKARTA - Russian presidential press secretary Dmitry Peskov said no one wanted to share responsibility for the potential seizure of Moscow's assets with Belgium, but all parties wanted the asset.

"Belgium is quite wise by saying, listen, we will have state legal responsibility and personal legal responsibility for these steps," he said in an interview with the program "Moscow.Kremlin.Putin" as reported by TASS (8/12).

However, according to a Kremlin spokesman, no one is willing to share this responsibility with Belgium and provide any guarantees.

"Nobody wants to share the responsibility with them, but everyone really wants this money," added Peskov.

It is known, there are about 210 billion euros of Russian assets that cannot be mobilized in Europe, including the 185 billion euros held by Belgium's Euroclear.

Belgium itself opposes the European Commission's plan to confiscate Russian sovereign assets blocked in Europe under the guise of a "reparation loan" to Ukraine, fearing the potential Russian response.

Head of the European storage agency Valerie Urbain said in an interview with the previous Belgian television channel RTBF, plans to confiscate Russian assets as proposed by the European Commission were unrealistic and would lead to the bankruptcy of the storage agency.

He warned of the risk of foreign capital outflows from Euroclear following this decision. According to Urbain, if the plan was approved at the EU summit on December 18-19, Euroclear "is ready to sue him in court."

As previously reported, Belgium, where Russian assets worth 200 billion euros were frozen in Euroclear, blocked the European Commission's proposal to take over the asset under the guise of a reparatory loan to Kyiv at the European Union Summit on October 23.

The Belgian government demands legally binding guarantees from all EU countries, they will fully bear the financial and legal burden Brussels will face as a result of Russia's retaliatory measures.

Late last month, Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova warned Europe should return blocked Russian assets if they do not want to be "known as thieves."

"Only Russia has the right to decide what will happen to the assets of the Russian Federation," Zakharova explained.

Late last month, Belgian Prime Minister Bart De Wever warned that the EU's plan to use frozen Russian state assets to fund Ukraine could jeopardize a potential peace deal to end a war that has lasted nearly four years.

"Continuing a hasty proposed reparasion loan scheme will have a negative impact, namely that we as the European Union effectively prevent a peace agreement from reaching," PM De Wever said in a letter to European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, seen by Reuters.

Belgium's support for this plan is critical, as assets expected to be used by the European Union are held by Belgium's financial institution, Euroclear.

"I think the proposed reparasion loan scheme is fundamentally wrong," De Wever said, adding historically, during the war, immobileized assets were never used.

"These assets have become the object of decision in the postwar settlement, usually in the context of war repatriation by the losers," he said.

EU leaders at a summit last month tried to agree on a plan to use 140 billion euros in Russian state assets frozen in Europe as a loan to Kyiv, but failed to get Belgian support.