German Chancellor Friedrich Merz on Thursday rejected placing Russian assets frozen in the European Union (EU) under U.S. control, saying decisions over the funds should remain with Europe.
“These are assets that are frozen in Europe. They should also remain frozen in Europe,” Merz said ahead of an EU summit in Brussels. “That is our affair, and we will decide on that.”
Merz made the remarks in response to recent media reports that the United States had proposed unfreezing some Russian assets held in Europe and placing them under a mechanism overseen by Washington.
About 210 billion euros (about 235 billion U.S. dollars) in Russian central bank assets are currently immobilized in the EU.