Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova attends a news conference in Moscow, Russia, April 4, 2023. REUTERS/File Photo
In a stern warning to the West, Russia on Tuesday said that Moscow would be “very tough” if the US and EU try to seize hundreds of billions of dollars worth of Russian assets.
On Monday, the European Union took the very step of setting aside windfall profits made on frozen Russian central bank assets to finance the reconstruction of Ukraine.
Since 2022, the time when Russian President Vladimir Putin launched an all-out offensive against Ukraine, the US backed by its allies prohibited transactions with Russia’s central bank and finance ministry, blocking around $300 billion of sovereign Russian assets in the West.
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‘This is theft’
Commenting on the law passed by the EU, Russian Foreign Ministry Spokeswoman Maria Zakharova told Sputnik radio, “This is theft: It’s the appropriation of something that doesn’t belong to you.”
She said that Russia’s response would be “very tough” as the country believes it’s dealing with thieves.
“Considering that our country has qualified this as theft, the attitude will be towards thieves,” Zakharova said. “Not as political manipulators, not as overplayed technologists, but as thieves.”
Moreover, Moscow has said that it will seize American and European assets in response to the seizure of its property.
EU’s new law on Russian assets
The European Union, along with the Group of Seven Nations (G7), froze about 300 billion euros worth of Russian central bank assets following Moscow’s invasion of Ukraine following which both the groups have been thinking of ways to utilise these funds.
Two-thirds of these funds are in the EU with the majority of that held by Belgium’s clearing house Euroclear. So far, only taxes on the assets in Belgium have been earmarked to a dedicated fund for Ukraine handled by the Belgian government.
The law passed on Monday means central securities depositaries (CSDs), such as Euroclear, will be prohibited from using net profits and must keep revenues from the Russian assets separate.
“Today’s decision, in line with the G7 position, clarifies … the legal status of the revenues generated by the CSDs in connection with holding of Russian immobilised assets and sets clear rules for the entities holding them,” said the Council of the EU, a legislative body that groups member states.
With inputs from Reuters