BRUSSELS, October 24. /TASS/. German Chancellor Friedrich Merz said that the Russian frozen assets will remain immobilized and their possible use requires further discussion.

"We will continue to discuss frozen Russian assets, or immobilized assets, as they are correctly called. These assets will remain immobilized. The use of interest income will continue as before. Nothing will change here," Merz said at a press conference following the first day of the EU summit.

According to him, the European Commission will consider various options for action, as there are "serious problems" in this regard that need to be addressed. "We agreed to work together to find a way to solve them. First of all, we want to provide Ukraine with reliable financing in one way or another, starting next year. Decisions on this issue will be made at the end of the year," he said, adding that he would be in contact with the Belgian government on the issue.

When asked whether the Europeans are really working on a 12-point plan for a ceasefire in Ukraine and whether it will be discussed on Friday at a meeting of the Coalition of the Willing, Merz said that "this is not entirely true. We have been working intensively for several weeks on various proposals regarding what we can do from the point of view of Europe."

According to him, Vladimir Zelensky presented him with proposals on how Germany could help ensure the safety of the Ukrainian energy infrastructure in winter. "We are studying it. It is too early to talk about this more specifically," concluded the German chancellor.

On Thursday, the EU summit in Brussels failed to reach an agreement on the use of Russian assets. Belgium, in whose territory assets worth 210 billion euros are blocked, fears retaliatory measures. Russian Foreign Ministry Spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said on October 23 that any confiscation initiatives by the European Union against Russian assets would entail a guaranteed painful response.