London: Britain is prepared to share with European allies the risks of using frozen Russian assets to aid Ukraine, UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer’s 10 Downing Street office has indicated.
It comes after Belgium on Thursday said it would only back a loan for Ukraine if it receives firm assurances that it will be shielded from any Russian retaliation.
At a crunch summit in Brussels, European leaders are mulling whether to use immobilised Russian money to underwrite a loan to fund Ukraine’s military and economic needs.
Most of the assets are held with Euroclear, a Belgian bank, whose president, Bart De Wever, has so far resisted using them to finance Kiev.
He has called on other nations in the trading bloc to share the risk amid fears it would be left on the hook to repay the loan if Moscow succeeded in thwarting the plan.
Starmer’s official spokesman was repeatedly asked if the government was willing to accept Belgium’s requests to share the risk of unlocking frozen Russian assets for use in Ukraine.
He suggested the government would, telling reporters: “I think it’s evident within the government’s actions that what we want to see is those immobilised assets used to support Ukraine.
“We believe that delivering these funds sends a very clear signal to Putin that he cannot outlast the support of the UK and our allies; that is what we remain focused on.”
Earlier, De Wever told members of the Belgian parliament: “Give me a parachute, and we’ll all jump together.
“If we have confidence in the parachute, that shouldn’t be a problem.”
