Russia warned the EU about retaliatory measures in case of confiscation of assets frozen by the war in Ukraine

Russia on Wednesday warned the European Union (EU) of retaliation if it confiscates Russian assets that have been frozen by community sanctions imposed on it for its military campaign in Ukraine and uses them to rebuild the country.

“Once again we warn that if it comes to the real confiscation of the property of Russian citizens, enterprises, state reserves of our country, then appropriate measures will inevitably be taken by Russia”, – said the press secretary of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs Maria Zakharova at her weekly press conference.

He did not want to prejudge whether the measures would be symmetrical or asymmetrical, but assured that they would be “reciprocal and real” and “not verbal.”

“Responsibility for its consequences, even for the interests of European companies, will fall solely on Brussels,” he stressed.

The European Commission (EC) on Wednesday presented options for the confiscation of frozen Russian assets for use in the country’s reconstruction in cooperation with international partners.

“Together with our partners, we will ensure that Russia pay for the devastation you have caused with your oligarchs and your central bank assets,” Community Executive President Ursula von der Leyen tweeted.

European Union froze Russian private assets worth 18.9 billion euros as a result of various packages of sanctions adopted for its attack on Ukraine, while between the EU countries and their G7 partners – the US, Canada, Japan and the UK.

European law does not allow for the confiscation of frozen assets unless they are related to a crime, so Brussels spent months studying how to facilitate this confiscation and proposed that violations of European sanctions could be considered a crime, which was approved that same week.

Russian assets under scrutiny

On the other hand, Brussels is putting forward possible options for directing the proceeds that could be received from confiscated Russian assets to the restoration Ukraineeither by transferring them to the fund or to the budget Europe or the creation of an international instrument for the management of these assets on an interim basis.

“Together with international partners that have adopted similar sanctions, the possibility of actively managing frozen and immobilized assets, in particular liquid assets of state-owned enterprises and the Central Bank of the Russian Federation and their affiliates, could be explored,” the EC said in a statement. .

This would allow for a “stable and predictable” income for reconstruction Ukraine, but that would require the creation of financial instruments “preferably internationally,” he adds.

The idea would be to use this system temporarily, for example, until a peace agreement is reached between Ukraine D Russiasince international law stipulates that the assets must be returned to their owner, in this case Moscow, after the lifting of sanctions.

(As reported by EFE)

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