Kremlin says EU plan to take revenue from frozen Russian assets is still theft

Russia would regard the seizure of revenue from its frozen assets in the European Union as a violation of all norms of the global economic system, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said on Wednesday.

EU countries have formally adopted a plan to use windfall profits from Russian central bank assets frozen in the EU for Ukraine’s defence, the Belgian government said this week.

The Group of Seven countries (G7) froze around $300 billion worth of Russian financial assets soon after Moscow sent tens of thousands of troops into Ukraine in 2022. The EU expects the assets to yield about 15-20 billion euros ($16.30-$21.70 billion) in profits by 2027.

“…We can see they are being careful, they understand the potential danger of such decisions and the potential consequences for themselves which are inevitable. That is why they have gone for the smaller option (versus confiscating all assets),” Peskov told a news briefing.

“But even the smaller option is to us nothing less than expropriation.”

Peskov said that Moscow was still working on its response to such a move and would closely monitor its implementation.