Merz opposes the transfer of frozen Russian assets to the US

German Federal Chancellor Friedrich Merz said that the European Union should not transfer frozen Russian assets to the United States. Instead, he believes that the money should be used to support Ukraine's long-term defense.

Reuters reported this on December 5.

Discussion about Russian assets

Merz stressed that he would ensure the money goes to Ukraine and warned that "some people in Washington" want to reap economic benefits from transferring frozen Russian assets to the US.

"This is a European matter, and I see no way, in any form of economic benefit, to transfer the money we then mobilize to the United States of America. This money must go to Ukraine," he said in Berlin.

Thus, the German chancellor responded to an early version of the US-proposed peace plan published in the media. The plan envisioned investing $100 billion of frozen funds in Ukraine's reconstruction, some of which would be invested in a joint US-Russian fund.

Moscow has stated that it will take legal action in response to any seizure of Russian assets. In response, the Kremlin is threatening to seize assets from investors in "unfriendly countries." 

The UK has about £25 billion in frozen Russian assets. British Foreign Secretary Yvette Cooper said that London is insisting on a plan agreed upon with Belgium and other EU states to use these assets to support Ukraine's defense in the long term.

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