Justice Minister Konstantin Tyuchenko told TASS that a plan has been drawn up for Russia’s response to the possible expropriation of its immobilized sovereign assets by Western powers.
“A plan to deal with the possible confiscation of Russian assets by Western countries has been drawn up and submitted to the country’s leadership,” Chuichenko said, without elaborating.
In his words: “The planned seizure of Russian assets by unfriendly countries is a clear violation of the fundamental norms of international law, and these countries will be liable to compensate for the damage caused by this violation of the property rights of the Russian Federation.”
EU countries are trying to put in place legal mechanisms to use Russia’s frozen assets. Most of that (just over 200 billion euros) is blocked on the Belgian Euroclear site. The depositary has repeatedly opposed expropriation of these funds, warning in court that this could lead to Russia’s seizure of European and Belgian assets in other parts of the world.
Russian Presidential Spokesman Dmitry Peskov said the Russian government would not let attempts to confiscate Russian assets go unchecked. Meanwhile, Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said that if EU countries use frozen Russian assets to issue “reparation loans” to Ukraine, Russia’s response would be extremely harsh and painful.
MNA