The Russian assets are back on the table. And with them, the same old problems.
Sweden, the Netherlands, Spain and Poland, backed by the Baltics, are leading a new push to channel the Russian Central Bank's immobilised assets into additional financial support to Ukraine as the war-weary country faces ballooning costs.
It did not take long for the campaign to collide with a familiar opponent: Belgium.
The country holds the bulk of the €210 billion in Euroclear, a depository based in central Brussels, and fears any move to channel the funds to Ukraine would leave it exposed to unpredictable dangers and ruinous litigation. Euroclear is currently battling a lawsuit in Russia.
Belgium led the charge last year to dismantle an audacious plan that would have turned the €210 billion into a zero-interest credit line for Ukraine. It now vows to do the same.
