Merz Backs Plan for €140 Billion Loan to Help Defend Ukraine

German Chancellor Friedrich Merz threw his backing behind a European Union plan to leverage frozen Russian assets to provide Ukraine with an interest-free loan of nearly €140 billion ($164 billion) to bolster its defense capabilities.

The position amounts to a shift in stance for Germany, which has been reticent on the issue of asset confiscation as a matter of international law. In an op-ed published in the Financial Times, Merz said the financing must send a clear signal to Moscow.