Frankfurt (Germany), 19 Dec. (LaPresse) – "Nothing has failed. The Federal Chancellor set the whole process in motion by being the first to put forward the model that involves using Russian assets to finance support for Ukraine. This approach was the basis for last week's decision to remove Russian assets from the normal sanctions regime and freeze them permanently. Without the Chancellor's impetus and negotiating initiatives, we would not have reached the point where we are today, with Russian assets definitively frozen." This was stated by the German government's deputy spokesperson, Sebastian Hille, at a press conference, responding to questions about the EU loan to Ukraine decided after the European Council, without initially using frozen Russian assets, as Chancellor Friedrich Merz would have liked.