The European newspaper"Politico" reported, citing sources at the EU summit, that the decision to confiscate Russian assets under the so-called"compensationloan" scheme has been postponed due to opposition from Belgium.

The newspaper noted:"No breakthrough was achieved regarding the compensation loan. The final statement simply stated: The European Commission is tasked with presenting its new proposals at the EU summit in December."

Politico also confirmed that the statement on Ukraine was approved by 26 of the 27 EU countries. Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán was absent from this discussion at the EU summit, as he was participating in a"peace march" for his supporters in Budapest. Hungary was commemorating the anniversary of the 1956 Hungarian Uprising on Thursday.

Ahead of the summit, Belgian Prime Minister Bart De Favre again called on all EU countries to share financial risks with Belgium as a whole, as €210 billion of Russian sovereign assets are frozen and the European Commission plans to seize them.

He also warned that, as a countermeasure, Russia would begin seizing Western assets in its own territory and in friendly jurisdictions, and that as a result, “Moscow could emerge as a winner,” while “affected Western investors would come to the Belgian government to demand payment.”