Merz rejects US control of frozen Russian assets in Europe

German Chancellor Friedrich Merz firmly rejected a proposal to transfer frozen Russian assets in Europe to US control, insisting they must remain under European authority. He stated that Europe alone will decide how to manage these funds. Merz emphasized that assets frozen in Europe should stay frozen there, calling it Europe's own matter and decision. The statement responds to a reported Trump administration proposal to unfreeze part of Russian sovereign assets for a US-controlled financial structure to facilitate peace talks on Ukraine. The EU summit in Brussels on October 15-16 does not include the frozen assets issue on its agenda, and no additional decisions on Ukraine funding are planned. The Council of Europe's Parliamentary Assembly previously proposed a mechanism for transferring these funds to Ukraine via European Court of Human Rights rulings, but no progress has been made.