Merz to advocate use of frozen Russian assets at EU summit

German Chancellor Friedrich Merz delivers a government declaration on the upcoming European Council meeting with focus on EU's support for Ukraine, developments in Middle East, European defense and security, EU competitiveness, and migration during a plenum session of the lower house of parliament, the Bundestag, in Berlin, Germany October 16, 2025. REUTERS/Annegret Hilse

BERLIN (Reuters) -German Chancellor Friedrich Merz said on Thursday he would call for the European Union to use Russian assets frozen in the West to provide a 140 billion euro ($163 billion) loan to Ukraine to finance its war effort at the upcoming EU summit.

Merz first advocated for an interest-free EU loan backed by the frozen assets in late September.

“We do not want to do this in order to prolong the war, but to end it," Merz said in a speech to the Bundestag lower house of parliament.

"(Russian President Vladimir) Putin must realize that our support for Ukraine will not wane, but will grow, and that he cannot count on outlasting us."

($1 = 0.8585 euros)

(Reporting by Friederike Heine and Sarah Marsh; editing by Matthias Williams)