Biden To Discuss UKR With Belgium PM De Croo At White House

US President Joe Biden is shortly scheduled to meet bilaterally with Belgian Prime Minister Alexaner De Croo at the White House.

• The meeting is primarily expected to focus on Belgium's role in a joint US-G7-EU scheme to use immobilised Russian sovereign assets to fund Ukraine. As most of the assets are frozen in Belgium’s Euroclear, De Croo’s buy in is crucial.
• Biden and De Croo are also likely to discuss a US policy pivot to allow Ukraine to use US-supplied weapons to strike targets within Russia. This week, Belgium announced the donation of 30 F-16 fighter planes to Ukraine but under strict conditions that they be used exclusively within Ukrainian territory. In light of Washington’s pivot, observers will be watching to see if Belgium follows suit.
• Earlier today, De Croo met Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen at the Treasury Department. Yellen said the two discussed, “important policy priorities during Belgium’s ongoing six-month presidency of the Council of the European Union.”
• Yellen: “Chief among them is our work to provide support to Ukraine, to counter Russia’s war of aggression, and to unlock the value of immobilized Russian sovereign assets to benefit Ukraine.”
• According to Treasury, Yellen and De Croo, “also discussed ongoing coordination with Europe and other partners towards a united response to Chinese industrial overcapacity.”