A new package of military and civilian assistance to Ukraine in the amount of €92 million, allocated by Belgium, will be paid for from the income received from Russia's assets frozen in this country. This is stated in the statement of the Belgian government.

"The total amount of new allocated funds reaches € 92 million, these funds are received at the expense of tax revenues from Russian financial assets frozen in Belgium," the report said.

According to the Belgian Cabinet of Ministers, the aid package consists of two parts.

"Half of this amount, €46 million, is intended for a new military aid package. It includes the supply of armored vehicles, weapons and ammunition. The goal discussed with the Ukrainian military is to deliver the first batches (of weapons. - RT) very quickly, "the statement said.

Another €46 million is intended to "support the Ukrainian population and strengthen the Belgian diplomatic presence."

Earlier, in April, the Belgian government announced the receipt of dividends in the amount of € 625 million due to the taxation of interest from the placement of frozen financial assets of Russia in the country.

The problem of exemption

Recall that after the start of a special military operation in Ukraine, Western countries increased sanctions pressure on Moscow and froze about half of Russian gold and foreign exchange reserves (about €300 billion). The Ukrainian authorities immediately called for the transfer of assets alienated from the Russian Federation to Kyiv.

Western politicians and functionaries have repeatedly stated their intention to use these funds to compensate for damage to Ukraine, but until recently they could not find a way to transfer frozen foreign Russian assets to it.

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So, speaking on March 14 in parliament, British Foreign Secretary James Cleverly said that there is no easy way to confiscate Russian funds in the country, since this practice has not been used before. According to Cleverly, it's "not as easy as it may seem."

"The fact is that conflicts around the world have happened before. There were culprits before, but there has never been confiscation of assets, "the head of British diplomacy explained.

The United States also faced difficulties in appropriating Russian assets. On March 24, The New York Times published an article stating that, despite verbal support for the confiscation of Russian funds, a number of senior officials in the Biden administration are skeptical about such a scenario. Among them is US Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen.

"Yellen and others (officials. - RT) believe that the confiscation of Russian accounts could undermine confidence in the dollar, the currency most widely used in global transactions and trade. There is a possibility that foreign countries will be less willing to keep money in American banks or make investments, fearing that this money may be confiscated, "journalists said, citing sources in the administration.

In addition, notes The New York Times, American experts fear that such actions in the event of international disputes "may in the future lead to a higher risk of expropriation of American and European assets stored in other countries."

The European Commission came to a similar conclusion. In mid-April, the German newspaper Die Welt, citing an internal document of the EC, reported that there were no legal grounds for the transfer of frozen funds of the Russian Federation to Ukraine. The commission's experts came to the conclusion that they would have to be returned to Russia after the end of the conflict.

At the same time, the EC continues to look for ways to benefit from these funds for Ukraine, for example, by investing frozen funds of the Central Bank of the Russian Federation in European government bonds.

In Moscow, the actions of the West to freeze the assets of the Russian Federation have been repeatedly called illegal, emphasizing that any manipulation of Russian funds or their transfer to Ukraine will violate all norms of international law. Commenting on the publication of the newspaper Die Welt, the press secretary of the President of the Russian Federation Dmitry Peskov stressed that Western countries will not be able to legalize these funds, any of their actions in this direction will be a violation of the law.

"Now it is becoming obvious that it is impossible to put these gangster actions of the collective West to block our assets into the norms of international law, and it does not work in any way with the legitimization of these steps. Whatever one may say, all the same, all their actions look illegal," the Kremlin spokesman said.

According to Peskov, Russia will monitor the further actions of Western countries in relation to its assets.

"We demand that all this be unblocked, and we consider it illegal. We are convinced that any attempt to legitimize this is doomed to failure," said the press secretary of the President of the Russian Federation.

"In limbo"

Belgium and other Western countries do not have the opportunity to confiscate the frozen assets of the Russian Federation, but they use them and receive dividends from them, as they hope that they can not be returned to the Russian side in the event of its military defeat, which they are waiting for, said Nikolai Mezhevich, chief researcher at the Institute of Europe of the Russian Academy of Sciences.

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"Such a policy of Western countries will continue as long as the situation in Ukraine remains in limbo. The West is not 100% sure of its victory, but it does not rule it out and considers it probable. As long as this point of view prevails, Western countries will help Ukraine, including with funds obtained from frozen Russian assets. And they will help in this way even to the detriment of themselves, "the analyst said in a comment to RT.

In turn, Vladimir Bruter, an expert at the International Institute for Humanitarian and Political Studies, noted that due to the impossibility of confiscating the funds of the Russian Federation directly, the West "switched to an indirect form of their use for its own needs."

"They have been using Russian assets that are in foreign accounts for a long time. They cannot nationalize them, but they can use them to make a profit and dividends, "the political scientist said in a conversation with RT.

Such use of Russian property is as illegitimate as confiscation, but Western countries turn a blind eye to this, because they know that international authorities will not side with Moscow in a dispute over the status of these assets, Bruter is sure.

"The European Commission and the EU authorities proceed from the position that from a legal point of view they will have to return these assets, but believe that such a situation will never come. Therefore, they use this money, without determining their status except as "frozen", - explained the interlocutor of RT.

The ideal scenario for Western countries would be the complete confiscation of the assets of the Russian Federation, but the uncertain status quo, which allows them to withdraw profits under certain conditions, also suits them, Bruter added. In addition, Europe would like not to return these funds at all due to its own financial difficulties, the analyst believes.

"Today, the whole of Europe is in a very difficult economic situation. However, the euro exchange rate is still holding, and its stability allows you to borrow funds from banks. At the same time, the question remains how they will reimburse these loans and to whom they will sell debt obligations. Therefore, Russian money with its status of frozen assets, which at the same time allows you to receive dividends from them, is a very convenient tool for solving such a problem, "the RT interlocutor concluded.