EU open to accommodate Belgian concerns on guarantees in Russian asset plan

BRUSSELS, Dec 12 (Reuters) - The European Commission is open to include guarantees that Belgium wants in the plan to use immobilised Russian central bank assets for a loan to Ukraine, European Economic Commissioner Valdis Dombrovskis said on Friday.

European Union countries want to use Russian sovereign assets held in the Belgian central securities depository Euroclear to provide a loan to Ukraine that would only be repaid once Russia pays war damages to Kyiv.

Before it agrees to the scheme, Belgium wants other EU countries to guarantee that they would share the potential financial burden that might arise from any legal action that Russia might take against Euroclear over the plan.

"We are putting forward solid guarantees for Belgium and also financial institutions in our proposal," Dombrovskis told a news conference after a meeting of EU finance ministers.

"But from the Commission side, we are open to work further and see how to further accommodate Belgium's concerns, and this work is ongoing as we speak," he said.

He said Ukraine would need money from the EU from the second quarter of 2026 and that the EU was already talking to other G7 countries -- the United States, Canada, Japan and Britain -- to front-load their financial help to Ukraine in the first quarter.

"We are making progress on this, and it looks like we'll be able to cover the financing need for Ukraine for the first quarter," he said. (Reporting by Jan Strupczewski)