Pending on Wednesday, the EU approved a plan to use the profits generated by investing frozen Russian assets to buy weapons for Ukraine, writes "Politico".
Ambassadors meeting in Brussels on Wednesday are likely to give the go-ahead after Belgium signaled a change to the way it treats tax revenue on cash - the latest major obstacle to the deal.
Profits generated by the investment of Russian assets frozen in Belgium are worth between 2.5 and 3 billion euros per year.
In talks on Tuesday, the Belgian government signaled that from 2025 it would channel profit tax revenue into an EU or G7 common fund for Ukraine. Tax revenues amount to 1.7 billion euros in 2024.
This comes after the US and several EU countries, led by Germany, put pressure on the Belgian government to hand over the money to Ukraine.
The initiative is separate from a larger push by the US to freeze assets in their entirety to support Ukraine, a move rejected by the EU's biggest governments over fears of legal and financial ramifications of instability.< /p>
"The Belgian federal government is ready to consider a voluntary agreement from the fiscal year 2025 onwards with the EU/G-7 to transfer the unexpected national corporate taxation from frozen Russian sovereign assets," said a Belgian government statement, quoted by " ;Politico".
A Belgian government official said the country would hand over tax revenue to Ukraine on the condition that other EU and G7 countries with Russian assets do the same.
Belgium has a significant role to play as the Brussels-based securities depository Euroclear holds most of Russia's frozen assets in Europe. The country also coordinates negotiations at EU level, as it holds the rotating six-month presidency of the Council.
Until now, Belgium took tax revenue and sent the money independently to Ukraine through a national fund. The Belgian government claims that a large part of the money collected from taxes was intended to buy weapons for Ukraine.
But EU diplomats have privately accused the country of an accounting trick, effectively double-counting its contributions to Ukraine.
In another last-minute concession, Belgium also reduced the fee Euroclear will charge for processing the frozen assets to 0.5 percent - freeing up extra money for Ukraine.
The latest text of the EU plan offers neutral countries such as Austria, Ireland, Malta and Cyprus the option to opt out of buying weapons - possibly securing their support for the deal. These countries can limit themselves to providing humanitarian aid.
"The chances of finding a consensus ... are good," said an EU diplomat.
An agreement on Wednesday will pave the way for the EU to send the money to Ukraine in July.