Russia Warns West Against Using Frozen Russian Assets For Rebuilding Ukraine

Russia on Monday warned the Western nations against implementing their plan of using the frozen Russian assets for rebuilding the war torn Ukraine. Attempts to use the Russian assets as collateral to raise funds for Ukraine “would be illegal and lead to years of litigation,” Kremlin said, according to agencies, adding that Russia will challenge such plans.

Kremlin made remarks as the G7 nations have been planning to use the frozen Russian assets as collateral debt. The Group of Seven leaders have been working with the industrial nations and the EU to use more than $250 billion in frozen Russian central bank. The funds are being planned to be executed for war-torn Ukraine, and under the proposal, the allies would be able to sell debt to contribute to the reconstruction of the Ukraine, battered by the Russian forces in the ongoing war.

$300bn of sovereign Russian assets frozen 

Reacting to the reports, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said, “We do not yet know how much these publications correspond to reality. Are there really such plans? It is important to wait for official statements on this matter.” He continued to add, “We know that even the most serious publications now, unfortunately, consciously or not, make a lot of mistakes.” 

Days after Russia’s President Vladimir Putin invaded the neighbouring Ukraine, US, Europe and its western allies froze the transactions with Russia's central bank and finance ministry. They booked an estimated $300 billion of sovereign Russian assets in response to the war, also slapping a barrage of sanctions. At the time the assets were frozen, Russia's central bank held an estimated $207 billion in euro assets, $67 billion in US dollar assets and $37 billion in British pound, according to agent reports.

Putin’s spokesman Peskov warned that any attempts to move around the assets in the Russia's central bank will trigger legal action from Russia. "Of course, the Russian Federation will challenge such decisions, we will protect our interests and our assets illegally seized," Peskov was reported saying. "Encroachment on someone else's property undermines all the foundations of the economic system, including the economic system of those who will implement these decisions We are convinced that decision makers also understand the inevitability of these consequences. We are watching very closely.”