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BRUSSELS (AP) \u2014 Belgian Prime Minister Bart De Wever insisted on Thursday that his European partners must share the risk of using billions of dollars in frozen Russian assets<\/a> that are held in his country to help keep Ukraine\u2019s economy and war effort afloat in coming years.<\/p>\n Ukraine\u2019s budget and military needs for 2026 and 2027 are estimated to total around $153 billion, and the European Union\u2019s executive branch has been developing a plan to use Russia\u2019s frozen assets as collateral to drum up funds.<\/p>\n The biggest tranche of those assets \u2014 some $225 billion worth \u2014 are held in Belgium, and the Belgian government is wary of using the money without firm guarantees from other EU countries.<\/p>\n \u201cIf we want to give them to Ukraine, we have to do it all together,\u201d De Wever told reporters as he arrived for a summit with his EU counterparts in Brussels. \u201cIf not, Russian retaliation might only hit Belgium. That\u2019s not very reasonable.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cWe are a small country, and retaliation can be very hard. They might confiscate all kinds of monies of Western banks in Russia, confiscate the European owned companies in Russia,\u201d he warned.<\/p>\n The European Commission has described the plan as a \u201creparation loan.\u201d<\/p>\n In essence, EU countries would guarantee a loan to Ukraine of around $165 billion of European money \u2014 not taken from the assets themselves. Kyiv would only refund the EU once Russia pays significant war reparations<\/a> to Ukraine for the massive destruction it has caused.<\/p>\n Should Moscow refuse, its assets would remain frozen.<\/p>\n Russia has warned against the move. Earlier this month, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters that the EU\u2019s intentions \u201camount to plans to illegally confiscate Russian property \u2014 in Russian, we call it theft.\u201d<\/p>\n However, commission President Ursula von der Leyen insisted that \u201cwe are not confiscating the assets, but we are taking the cash balances for a loan to Ukraine.\u201d She said that \u201cUkraine has to pay back this loan if Russia pays reparations.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cRussia is the perpetrator. It has caused the damage, and it has to be held accountable,\u201d von der Leyen said. She added that she thinks her team has found \u201ca sound legal way to do this\u201d and to get reluctant member countries onside.<\/p>\n De Wever insisted on Thursday on seeing what that amounts to.<\/p>\n \u201cI haven\u2019t even seen the legal basis for the decision yet,\u201d he said. \u201cThis seems to me the first step, if you want to take an important decision. This has never been done. Even during the Second World War, we didn\u2019t do this, so it\u2019s not a detail.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n