Frankfurt (Germany), 18 December (LaPresse) – Regarding “continued support for Ukraine, you know my position. I want us to use frozen Russian assets for this purpose. I don't see a better option than this. My impression is that we can reach an agreement”. This was stated by German Chancellor Friedrich Merz upon his arrival at the European Council. ‘I understand the concerns of some Member States. But I hope that we can address them together, that we can also embark on a path together to send a signal of strength and determination from the European Union to Russia. The Russian president's reaction in recent hours shows how necessary this is,’ Merz added. "We are essentially faced with the choice between using European debt or Russian assets for Ukraine. And in my opinion, we must use Russian assets. Moreover, they have been definitively frozen for a week. This means that Russia can no longer access these assets in any case. And then we should use them, as proposed by the Commission, i.e. with a corresponding loan, so that we can support Ukraine for the next two years, if necessary," he concluded.