{"text":[[{"start":7.54,"text":"The European Commission has resumed work on options that could persuade EU governments to approve the use of Russia’s frozen assets for Ukraine."}],[{"start":16.14,"text":"An earlier such attempt was blocked by Belgium, which hosts most of the €210bn in Russian central bank assets immobilised in the west. The Belgian government and its allies cited a lack of sufficient risk-sharing guarantees in case of legal reprisals from Moscow."}],[{"start":33.08,"text":"But with Kyiv’s defence bill still rising more than four years after Russia’s full-scale invasion, the European Commission has resumed work on options that could prove more acceptable to Belgium, according to two people familiar with the discussions."}],[{"start":46.48,"text":"Sweden last month led calls to reopen the debate on frozen assets as cash-strapped EU governments are locked in negotiations on the bloc’s 2028-34 budget, arguing that the money could bridge Ukraine’s funding gap without putting further strain on national coffers."}],[{"start":62.66,"text":"Ukraine says it faces a $27bn shortfall this year and an even larger gap next year, although the figure has not yet been certified by the IMF or other international donors."}],[{"start":73.76,"text":"The EU has sought to cover much of that with a €90bn loan for this year and next, designed to meet about two-thirds of Ukraine’s estimated funding requirements. €12bn has been disbursed so far, but European capitals recognise that Kyiv will need more money to sustain its defence effort."}],[{"start":91.46,"text":"Officials caution that any new approach to using the frozen assets is still far from securing the necessary consensus. “Currently there are no new options, we’re just looking at ways there could be,” said one EU official."}],[{"start":103.5,"text":"A Belgian official said the government’s position “has not changed”."}],[{"start":107.66,"text":"“Any proposal involving the immobilised Russian assets must provide a complete and legally watertight solution covering both the assets and the liabilities of Euroclear and of the Belgian State,” they added."}],[{"start":119.02,"text":"Russia has filed a legal claim against Euroclear, the Brussels-based central securities depository, and a Russian court in July upheld an order for it to pay the Russian central bank Rbs18.2tn (€200bn) in damages over immobilised assets."}],[{"start":134.78,"text":"Although the judgment is not recognised under EU law, Russia could seek to enforce it by seizing Euroclear holdings in other, Moscow-friendly jurisdictions."}],[{"start":143.5,"text":"Euroclear declined to comment."}],[{"start":145.34,"text":"One option, recently endorsed by former German defence minister Annegret Kramp-Karrenbauer and Nathalie Loiseau, an EU lawmaker from Emmanuel Macron’s ruling party, would transfer Russian accounts held at Euroclear and other EU financial institutions into a separate EU vehicle."}],[{"start":162.32,"text":"The approach would move both the assets and the associated liabilities while providing Belgium and Euroclear with an indemnity against legal risks."}],[{"start":171.04,"text":"EU officials remain non-committal on the precise technical solution, stressing that any proposal would need political backing from all 27 member states and, crucially, Belgium."}],[{"start":181.58,"text":"“It doesn’t matter if we pull a very impressive white rabbit out of a hat if the political appetite isn’t there,” one said."}],[{"start":188.78,"text":"Additional reporting by Barbara Moens and Henry Foy in Brussels"}],[{"start":195.86,"text":""}]],"url":"https://audio.ftcn.net.cn/album/a_1789105511_4631.mp3"}