17 December 2025
Merz: EU should use Russian assets to increase pressure on Putin
German Chancellor Friedrich Merz has called on the EU to use frozen Russian assets to aid Ukraine, “stepping up pressure” [Russian President Vladimir] Putin” and “Send a clear signal to Russia.”
Ahead of the EU summit in Brussels on Thursday, the European Commission has proposed a €90 billion ($106 billion) loan to Ukraine to secure the country’s finances for the next two years. , The money is to be taken from €200 billion worth of Russian assets frozen in the bloc.
“This issue is neither more nor less than the security and sovereignty of Europe,” Merz told the Bundestag, the lower house of Germany’s parliament, on Wednesday. He said it should be made clear to Putin that continuing his invasion of Ukraine is “futile” and that he should engage in “serious talks.”
However, Merz and the European Commission have to overcome obstacles within the EU, where the more pro-Russian leaders of Hungary and Slovakia have already said they would vote against such a plan.
Belgium, where about €185 billion of Russian assets is frozen with financial services provider Euroclear, has also expressed concerns about its liability should Moscow take legal action against the use of its assets.
On Wednesday, Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni warned that the legal situation is “anything but simple”.
“Italy clearly considers the principle that Russia should be the first to pay for the reconstruction of a country it has attacked, but that this result must be achieved on a solid legal basis,” he told the Italian parliament. “If the legal basis for this initiative is not solid, we will hand Russia its first real victory since the beginning of this conflict.”
Also on Wednesday, the AFP news agency reported that the United States is pressuring European countries to oppose the plan.
“The US administration is pressuring European countries to abandon the idea of using Russian assets to support Ukraine,” a senior Ukrainian official was quoted as saying. He said Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky was expected to arrive in Brussels on Thursday where he would like to “inspire European countries to adopt this decision.”