MOSCOW, Feb. 26 – Russian Finance Minister Anton Siluanov warned on Monday that Russia would retaliate in kind to any actions taken by Western countries against its assets abroad.
“This is not a question for us. We are watching the decisions of the Western countries,” Siluanov said during an interview with Russia’s RIA Novosti news agency, adding, “Any actions with our assets will receive a symmetrical response.”
Western countries have imposed sanctions on Russia since February 2022, freezing both sovereign and private assets. The country’s currency reserves were frozen to the amount of roughly 300 billion U.S. dollars.
Various reasons have been cited for seizing the Russian assets. In October 2022, the EU leaders asked the European Commission to draft proposals for using the frozen assets to finance the reconstruction of Ukraine, according to the RIA report.
Russia has responded strongly against the Western sanctions. The Kremlin said they “would be another step towards violating all the rules and norms of international law.”
The Russian Foreign Ministry denounced freezing Russian assets in Europe as theft.
