BRUSSELS — Russian state assets in Europe could remain permanently frozen under a legal mechanism approved by EU capitals on Thursday.

The EU’s ambassadors handed emergency powers to the European Commission to keep €210 billion in Russian state assets blocked until the Kremlin pays post-war reparations to Ukraine, the Danish Council presidency announced on Thursday.

It said that ambassadors had “agreed on a revised version of the Art. 122-proposal and approved the launch of a written procedure for formal Council decision by tomorrow around 5 pm.” The decision was taken by a “very clear majority.”

The legal mechanism deals a major blow to the Kremlin’s hopes of unfreezing its money as part of a post-war peace settlement — an idea that has been championed by U.S. President Donald Trump but remains unpopular in Europe.

The EU’s new emergency powers will remain in place until “Russia ceases its war of aggression against Ukraine, and provides reparations to Ukraine,” according to a legal text, seen by POLITICO, that was backed by the EU’s 27 ambassadors on Thursday afternoon.

In a major boost to Ukraine, the legal workaround significantly reduces the chance that pro-Kremlin countries in Europe, such as Hungary and Slovakia, will hand back the frozen funds to Russia.

The emergency clause effectively overhauls the current rules, which compel EU countries to unanimously reauthorize the sanctions every six months. 

Kremlin-friendly countries are thereby set to lose their power to release the sanctioned money simply by voting “no” on sanctions renewal. Were that to happen after the EU provided an assets-backed loan to Kyiv, the EU’s 27 capitals would be on the hook to repay the loan to Russia.

The EU justified the seismic legal change on the grounds that handing back the assets to Russia would wreak havoc on the EU economy — and potentially fuel hybrid attacks by the Kremlin across the bloc.

Keeping the assets frozen “is a measure that is appropriate in order to avoid further repercussions of unprecedented magnitude on the economic situation of the Union caused by Russia’s actions,” the Commission wrote in the legal text.

The EU executive initially proposed the legal mechanism to strengthen a separate plan to mobilize €210 billion in frozen Russian assets for Ukraine — most of which are held by the Belgian-based Euroclear. 

Belgium, however, is opposed to the plan over fears that it will be on the hook to repay the loan if Russia claws back the money.

In order to allay Belgium’s concerns, the Commission stripped references to the loan from the legal proposal that was approved Thursday.

Giovanna Faggionato contributed to this report.