Merz to Urge EU to Use Frozen Russian Assets for ‘Reparations Loan’ to Ukraine
German Chancellor Friedrich Merz said he will push European Union leaders to use frozen Russian assets to provide Ukraine with a large-scale “reparations loan.”
The Gaze reports this, referring to Reuters.
Speaking in Berlin on Thursday, Merz announced his plan to propose the initiative at the EU summit on October 23 in Brussels.
The proposal envisions channeling around €140 billion from immobilized Russian sovereign funds into a long-term financial mechanism to support Ukraine’s recovery and defense needs.
“We do not want to do this in order to prolong the war, but to end it. Putin must realize that our support for Ukraine will not wane, but will grow, and that he cannot count on outlasting us." the German chancellor said.
Merz’s remarks come as Berlin prepares a broader strategy to confront what he described as Russia’s ongoing “hybrid warfare” against Germany and Europe.
In the same address to the Bundestag, the chancellor said his government will unveil a comprehensive action plan to counter cyberattacks, sabotage, espionage, and disinformation campaigns aimed at destabilizing Western democracies. The plan will be reviewed by Germany’s newly formed National Security Council in the coming days.
Merz accused Russia of pursuing “increasingly unscrupulous” attempts to destabilize Germany and the wider European community through covert and hybrid means.
He said the Kremlin is waging an “offensive of uncertainty,” aimed at eroding public trust and weakening democratic institutions across Europe. “Putin has miscalculated,” Merz declared. “We will not be intimidated – we will defend ourselves.”
Earlier this month, Merz said he expected a breakthrough on the issue of frozen assets within October. Moscow has since threatened to retaliate by nationalizing Western companies operating in Russia.
As The Gaze previously reported, the United Kingdom and Canada are set to join the European Union’s initiative to channel profits from nearly $300 billion in frozen Russian Central Bank assets held by G7 nations into a new “reparations loan.”