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EU officials have taken steps to back down including using an 81-year-old law involving the Belgian king to protect the bloc’s sanctions against Russia after Hungary threatened to veto the their change.

Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán told the bloc’s other 26 leaders in December that he could block the rollover this month of EU sanctions against Russia, which would require unanimous approval – a move that leading to the expiration of the measures on January 31.

Orbán said he was waiting for Donald Trump’s inauguration as US president on Monday. If Trump eases US sanctions on Moscow, Orbán says he will push for the EU to follow suit.

“Now there is a big change in the administration of the US . . . a meaningful exchange must take place before we decide to move the sanctions regime for another six months,” János Bóka, Hungary’s EU affairs minister, told reporters on Thursday. “We want to reserve our decision until we know how the US administration views the future of the sanctions regime.”

The outgoing Biden administration on Wednesday relisted about 100 entities from the financial, energy and defense sectors under another law involving Congress in a bid to complicate any efforts by Trump to remove them from the Russia sanctions list.

While EU officials say their main focus is on convincing Orbán to maintain sanctions against Russian companies and sovereign assets frozen in the EU, they are taking steps that could protect at least some this.

This includes about €190bn of Russian state assets in the central securities depository Euroclear based in Belgium. Profits from the assets will pay off a $50bn loan to Ukraine, and officials believe they are a critical part of a potential ceasefire agreement.

When the sanctions are over, an official explained that “the money will be in Russia the next day” as financial intermediaries have no legal basis to hold it. Trade restrictions and sectoral sanctions such as oil import bans will also end.

“I am very concerned about this and others should be too,” said a senior EU diplomat who regularly talks to Hungarian officials. “There is a long chance that Orbán will not be broken.”

As state assets are physically held by a Belgian entity, one option is to use a wartime decree passed in 1944 that allows King Philippe to block the transfer of assets. from the country, according to four officials involved in the discussions.

The Royal Palace declined to say whether the king had been approached, adding that the responsibility for such an order rests with the government, although it must be signed by the sovereign.

Euroclear declined to comment.

“Belgium, together with other EU member states, is doing everything possible to reach an agreement on the renewal of sanctions against Russia. We have reached an agreement before and we will continue to work to ensure that this is also the case this time,” said a spokesman for Belgium’s foreign ministry.

Belgium has long opposed the implementation of national measures on immobilized assets, which it fears would open it up to legal challenges from Russia. A Belgian official said that the use of extraordinary powers would violate a bilateral investment agreement that Belgium has with Russia.

“If Orbán does not agree, the only solution is a national one,” said a senior Commission official involved in the preparations.

Several member states have floated the proposal to strip Hungary of its voting rights to push through the change, but such a drastic move may fail to garner the necessary unanimous support from all the rest. states.

Anitta Hipper, EU spokeswoman for foreign affairs, said that “work is ongoing to ensure a smooth and timely agreement” with member states to extend the sanctions.

Additional reporting by Henry Foy and Marton Dunai in London and Andy Bounds in Brussels