Putin ally tells CNBC using frozen Russian assets is a 'dead end'

One of Russia’s last remaining allies in the European Union told CNBC he believes there is no way forward for proposals to fund the rebuilding of Ukraine via frozen Russian assets.

The European Commission – the EU’s executive arm – is considering using seized Russian assets held in Europe to provide further financial support to Ukraine.

Speaking to CNBC as officials arrived at the European Council meeting, Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán said proposals to use the immobilized assets as a means to assist Ukraine had been “killed.”

“It’s [a] dead end. It’s over,” he said. “There is no sufficient level of support behind it.”

Orbán is widely seen as Russia’s closest ally within the EU, and has been a vocal critic of plans to use potentially hundreds of billions of euros of frozen assets to fund reparations loans for Kyiv. Hungary isn’t alone in having doubts over the measures, however.