The head of the Office of the Federal Chancellor of Germany, Thorsten Frei, said that the European Union should return to the issue of how frozen Russian assets worth hundreds of billions of euros can be used to finance Ukraine. This is reported by Bloomberg with reference to an interview with a high-ranking official to the Frankfurter Allgemeine Sonntagszeitung, reports UNN.
We should consider the issue of Russian state funds much more carefully than we have done before. We must not allow Russia to get away with the game it is playing with all of us,
As Bloomberg writes, Frei's comments suggest that Germany, under the leadership of the new Chancellor Friedrich Merz, may become more open to the idea of seizing Russian state assets worth about 200 billion euros ($227 billion) that the EU froze after President Vladimir Putin's invasion in 2022. Although the EU is already using the profits they generate, countries including Germany and France have previously been skeptical about seizing the assets themselves, fearing it could harm the euro.
It is noted that Frey acknowledged possible compromises, saying that he respects the counterarguments and this is a matter of weighing all the "pros" and "cons".
"If we want to achieve a ceasefire peacefully, then our opportunities are limited... That is why I am very much in favor of using the tools at our disposal," the head of the Office emphasized.
Recall
German Chancellor Friedrich Merz stated that Germany and the G7 countries are using interest from frozen Russian assets to finance aid to Ukraine.