Merz says EU must use frozen Russian assets to pressure Putin

BERLIN: German Chancellor Friedrich Merz on Wednesday said an EU plan to use frozen Russian assets to fund Ukraine’s defense was essential to increase pressure on President Vladimir Putin.
“It is about aid for Ukraine, but it is also about sending a clear signal to Russia that we will use the assets that are available here to help end this war as quickly as possible,” Merz told parliament ahead of a key EU summit.
The European Union has laid out a plan to use the frozen assets to harness 90 billion euros ($105 billion) for a loan to help Ukraine repel Moscow’s forces, with the money to be paid back by any eventual Russian reparations to Ukraine.
But while the plan has the strong backing of many member states, including Germany, it has drawn opposition from others, including Belgium — home to international deposit organization Euroclear, which holds most of the assets — whose leaders fear Russian reprisals.
Merz said on the eve of the summit that “it is not enough for us to dry up the sources of income for the Russian war machine with further sanctions.”
“It is not enough for us in Europe to continue our financial support for Ukraine as before. It is not enough for us to throw all our political weight behind peace negotiations.
“We must do all of this, and we are undoubtedly doing so, but it is clear that the pressure on Putin must be increased even further in order to persuade him to engage in serious negotiations.”
Merz also said he was “aware of the concerns of the Belgian government” and that Germany was “consulting with our partners in order to address them.”
“We do not want to take this step in order to prolong the war,” he added. “We want to take it in order to end the war as quickly as possible.”