Foreign Ministry: Russia will regard confiscation of its assets by EU as trade war
Russia will consider the confiscation of its assets by the European Union as an act of trade war, and any attempts to confiscate Russian funds would be a gross violation of international law – as stated by the official representative of the Russian Foreign Ministry, Maria Zakharova, TASS reports
"We consider such actions not only as a banal theft, but also as a true trade war, as an escalation of the West's economic aggression against our country," Ms. Zakharova said, answering a question about the possible reinvestment of the Russian assets frozen by the European Union. "Any attempts to confiscate the funds that belong to our country, and the legality of which no one questions or can question, would be viewed as a gross violation of international law."
The diplomat is convinced that the EU understands well that the Russian Federation will respond extremely harshly to the confiscation of its frozen assets. According to Ms. Zakharova, this stops Brussels from making such a step. “It is a lucrative idea for the EU to mend its budget problems at the expense of Russian assets, and it is even too compulsive. Only the consequences stop them in making this last step. They see that we are responding, and this – to put it mildly – depresses them. They understand that the response will be extremely harsh," the diplomat stressed.
On January 29th, the EU ambassadors provisionally agreed on a proposal from the European Commission to use the proceeds from the reinvestment of frozen assets of Russia ‘for the reconstruction of Ukraine’.
