Maria Zakharova. Photo courtesy of the press service of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Russian Federation / TASS
MINSK, 23 July (BelTA) – Should they transfer a tranche of the proceeds from Russian frozen assets to fund arms supplies for Ukraine in August, Russia will respond in a very tough way and the West will feel it, spokeswoman for the Russian Foreign Ministry Maria Zakharova told the media, TASS reports.
"We have repeatedly said that we will respond very harshly. At the interdepartmental level, a decision on how to respond will be made on each item. Naturally, we will act in line with our national interests, but they will feel it," the Russian diplomat said.
Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov noted that Moscow would take legal action against anyone involved in the decision. "Definitely, we will work out the possible legal prosecution of those people who are involved in decision-making and the implementation of these decisions, because this is a direct violation of international law, it is a violation of property rights,” he said.
A European Union plan to use interest earned on frozen Russian assets to fund military aid to Ukraine is a "theft", Dmitry Peskov said. "This money is not only essentially stolen, but will also be spent on the purchase of weapons,” Dmitry Peskov noted.
The European Union, Canada, the United States and Japan froze Russia's assets worth about $300 billion after the start of the special military operation. Of this amount, about $5-6 billion is in the United States, while most of the money sits in Europe, including in the Euroclear depository in Belgium ($210 billion is stored there). The European Commission earlier approved a proposal to use the proceeds from the blocked Russian funds to help Kiev. The EU's top diplomat, Josep Borrell, on Monday said that the first tranche of Є1.4 billion in military aid for Ukraine taken from proceeds earned on frozen Russian assets would be made in early August.
"We have repeatedly said that we will respond very harshly. At the interdepartmental level, a decision on how to respond will be made on each item. Naturally, we will act in line with our national interests, but they will feel it," the Russian diplomat said.
Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov noted that Moscow would take legal action against anyone involved in the decision. "Definitely, we will work out the possible legal prosecution of those people who are involved in decision-making and the implementation of these decisions, because this is a direct violation of international law, it is a violation of property rights,” he said.
A European Union plan to use interest earned on frozen Russian assets to fund military aid to Ukraine is a "theft", Dmitry Peskov said. "This money is not only essentially stolen, but will also be spent on the purchase of weapons,” Dmitry Peskov noted.
The European Union, Canada, the United States and Japan froze Russia's assets worth about $300 billion after the start of the special military operation. Of this amount, about $5-6 billion is in the United States, while most of the money sits in Europe, including in the Euroclear depository in Belgium ($210 billion is stored there). The European Commission earlier approved a proposal to use the proceeds from the blocked Russian funds to help Kiev. The EU's top diplomat, Josep Borrell, on Monday said that the first tranche of Є1.4 billion in military aid for Ukraine taken from proceeds earned on frozen Russian assets would be made in early August.
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