German Chancellor Friedrich Merz said on Friday that he saw the need to use frozen Russian assets to support Ukraine as increasingly urgent and hoped there would soon be an agreement on the issue within the European Union.

"I see the need to do this as increasingly urgent," Merz said at a press conference alongside his Slovenian counterpart Robert Golob in Berlin.

"Ukraine needs our support. Russian attacks are intensifying. Winter is approaching, or rather, we are already in winter. And in this regard, I hope that we can come to a joint solution within the European Union," he added.