Macron ‘betrays’ Merz at EU summit over frozen Russian assets — Financial Times

During the European Union summit, German Chancellor Friedrich Merz failed to secure French support for using frozen Russian assets to aid Ukraine. Paris’ refusal effectively thwarted the initiative and exposed tensions between the two leading EU powers.

This is reported by the Financial Times .

Journalists analyzed the course of the European summit in Brussels and noted that German Chancellor Friedrich Merz was unable to convince EU leaders to use 210 billion euros of frozen Russian assets to support Ukraine due to the lack of support from French President Emmanuel Macron.

The publication states that on the eve of the summit, Macron did not publicly object to the German proposal. At the same time, his team in private consultations expressed doubts about the legality of such a move and pointed to possible difficulties in providing state guarantees in the event of the need to return Russian assets.

Journalists also noted that more and more EU states, including Italy, were joining the position of Belgium, which is home to most of the frozen Russian assets and which had opposed the idea from the beginning. Under these circumstances, France did not support Germany, effectively blocking the initiative.

“Macron betrayed Merz and he knows he will have to pay for it. But he is so weak that he had no other choice,” said a senior European diplomat familiar with the negotiations.

The publication emphasized that this situation demonstrated an imbalance between two key EU states – proactive Germany and restrained France. According to the journalists, this undermined hopes for the restoration of the Franco-German political tandem, which had previously been the driving force behind key decisions in the European Union.

“There is a feeling in Brussels that Berlin is the main player and that France’s influence is insufficient,” said Georgina Wright, a European policy expert at the Montaigne Institute think tank.

Mujtaba Rahman, head of the European direction of the analytical company Eurasia Group, noted that over the past 4-5 years, Paris has accused Berlin of indecision, but now the situation has changed.

“Now there is a chancellor who understands geopolitics, who wants to engage and do more for Europe, but now it is Paris that cannot fulfill its part of the deal,” said Mujtaba Rahman.

The article also highlights that Friedrich Merz supported a number of concepts previously promoted by France, including the idea of European strategic autonomy, the priority of European products in defense procurement, and strengthening the protection of the single market. At the same time, the journalists noted that France’s position is now increasingly focused on national interests.

“There is a growing sense in Brussels that France is prioritizing national interests over EU interests. The old adage that France is all talk, no action is making a comeback,” said Georgina Wright.

The day before, the Elysee Palace welcomed the statement of readiness of Russian President Vladimir Putin for a dialogue with French President Emmanuel Macron . In Paris, it was noted that in the coming days they plan to determine the terms of possible negotiations.

By the way, diplomats from the European Union countries have reached a preliminary agreement on using frozen Russian assets to provide Ukraine with a so-called “reparations loan” in 2026–2027. The final decision is to be made by the leaders of the EU states during a meeting of the European Council.

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