Berlin's proposal to use over €90 billion of frozen Russian assets for further arms purchases from the US, expressed at a meeting with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky on the sidelines of the Munich Security Conference, has failed, Der Spiegel writes.
As the publication notes, Paris opposes this idea. President Emmanuel Macron insists that the frozen assets be used primarily for the supply of weapons systems manufactured in Europe.
On December 12, the EU Council agreed to an indefinite freeze of Russian assets. This involved freezing 210 billion euros, rather than voting on its extension, which was supposed to happen every six months. In response, the Russian Central Bank filed a lawsuit for 18 trillion rubles against the Belgian depository Euroclear, where most of the assets are stored. The freezing decision was intended to be part of measures to provide a “reparation loan“ to Ukraine using Russian assets, but EU member states failed to agree on this measure.
On February 11, 2026, the European Parliament approved a loan of 90 billion euros to Ukraine for the period 2026-2027. The Czech Republic, Hungary and Slovakia refused to participate in the initiative.