According to Urmas Paet, Vice-Chairman of the European Parliament's Foreign Affairs Committee, the European Council's decision not to use frozen Russian assets to support Ukraine satisfies both Russia and Belgium.
"Frozen Russian assets will not be used to support Ukraine. Neither directly nor even as collateral for a loan," Paet commented on this disappointing decision and noted that Belgium and some other countries achieved their goal. "The Prime Minister of Belgium deemed it necessary to reflect after the meeting. He said that neighboring countries to Russia viewed the use of frozen Russian assets as a way to gain emotional satisfaction, but politics is not about working on emotions. 'Rationality has triumphed,' expressed the satisfaction of the Belgian Prime Minister."
According to Paet, Russia also quickly expressed a similar position and satisfaction that the leaders of the European Union did not reach an agreement. According to the Council's decision, a loan of 90 billion euros will be taken to support Ukraine, guaranteed by the EU budget. However, even this decision was not supported by Hungary, Slovakia, and the Czech Republic.
"These are the news following more than three years of discussions on the use of frozen Russian assets. In other words, the damage inflicted by the aggressor will still be paid for by the European Union. Belgium and Russia are satisfied in any case. Not to mention Hungary and Slovakia," Paet stated and added a photo of Belgian Prime Minister De Wever to his social media post, who helped successfully block the use of Russian funds in the interests of Ukraine.
