BERLIN: German Chancellor Friedrich Merz said Friday he is pressing the Belgian government to come to an agreement with the EU to use frozen Russian assets to fund Ukraine. The European Commission and multiple EU member states want to use immobilized Russian central bank assets to provide Kyiv with loans but Belgium, which hosts international deposit organization Euroclear, fears such a move could expose it to crippling legal and financial reprisals from Moscow.

"Belgium will not expropriate Russian assets and hand them over to Ukraine without European guarantees against lawsuits and demands to return the money," Belgian Minister of…

BRUSSELS: The European Union has accelerated efforts to agree on a scheme to use frozen Russian assets to help Ukraine after a US-backed peace plan last week set out different…