The Bundeskanzler said that any decisions regarding Russian assets frozen in Europe should be made by Europeans. Instead, he called for increased aid to Ukraine.
Frozen Russian assets in Europe must remain under the control of European countries. Europeans themselves should make decisions about them. German Chancellor Friedrich Merz said this on Thursday ahead of a European Council meeting in Brussels.
Mr Merz responded to a question what he thought about the idea of placing EU-frozen Russian assets under US control. The arrangement should ostensibly help facilitate a peace settlement.
The chancellor stressed that it is up to Europeans as to what to do with the assets on the grounds that it was the Europeans who has frozen them in Europe. “These are assets frozen in Europe, and they must remain frozen in Europe. This is our business, and we make the decisions about it,” the Bundeskanzler put it.
“Restarting peace talks”?
According to numerous news sources, the US proposed that European countries unfreeze some of Russia’s sovereign assets. It requested that the EU transfer them to a financial entity under control of Donald Trump’s administration.
The move was to “help restart peace talks”, the sources said. The assets, however, would likely go back to Russia, as the US increasingly aligns its moves with Russian strategic interests.
According to publicly available information, the EU has not considered the Americans’ proposal. The EU leaders’ summit in Brussels is taking place on Thursday and Friday. The use of frozen Russian assets is not currently on the meeting’s agenda. No additional decisions on funding for Ukraine are likely to arrive during the summit, either.
