Late concession by Belgium paved way for deal on using profits to buy ammo for Kyiv’s war effort.
The EU approved a plan to use the profits generated by investing frozen Russian assets to buy weapons for Ukraine.
Ambassadors meeting in Brussels on Wednesday gave the go-ahead after Belgium signaled a climbdown on the way it treats tax revenue on the cash — the last major obstacle to deal.
The profits generated by investing Russia’s assets immobilized in Belgium— where a large part of the assets frozen in Europe are kept — are worth between €2.5 billion and €3 billion per year.
This is the best summary I could come up with:
Ambassadors meeting in Brussels on Wednesday gave the go-ahead after Belgium signaled a climbdown on the way it treats tax revenue on the cash — the last major obstacle to deal.
“The money will serve to support #Ukraine‘s recovery and military defence in the context of the Russian aggression,” the Belgian government, which holds the six-month rotating presidency of the EU, said in a message on X, formerly Twitter.
The initiative is separate from a wider-ranging push by the U.S. to confiscate the assets in their entirety to support Ukraine, a move that is being rejected by the biggest EU governments over fears about legal and financial-volatility repercussions.
The tax income amounted to €1.7 billion in 2024.This comes after the U.S. and several EU countries — led by Germany — heaped pressure on the Belgian government to hand over the cash to Ukraine, as POLITICO first reported.
In another last-minute concession, Belgium also reduced the fee that Euroclear will charge for handling the frozen assets to 0.3 percent — freeing up extra cash for Ukraine.
The latest text of the EU plan offered neutral countries, such as Austria, Ireland, Malta and Cyprus, the chance to opt-out from buying weapons — possibly securing their backing for the deal.
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