West stealing billions from Russia – minister
Using interest from frozen Russian assets to make loans to Ukraine is against international law and will backfire on the West, Moscow’s Deputy Finance Minister Ivan Chebeskov has said.
The US and the EU blocked an estimated $300 billion in assets belonging to the Russian central bank when the Ukraine conflict escalated in February 2022. More than two thirds of the funds, around $213 billion, are being held at the Brussels-based clearinghouse Euroclear.
“Of course, these decisions taken by the US and the EU are not lawful, they contradict the principles of international law, the UN Charter, they go against everything there is,” Chebeskov told reporters on Friday.
The deputy finance minister spoke on the sidelines of the annual meetings of the governing bodies of the IMF and the World Bank, in Washington.
Earlier this week, US President Joe Biden announced the decision to provide Ukraine with a $20 billion loan, using interest from the frozen Russian assets as collateral. Meanwhile, The European Parliament backed a loan of up to €35 billion ($38 billion) to Kiev.
The US and the UK had pushed for confiscating the assets outright, but the EU has reportedly been fearful of fallout for Euroclear.
Chebeskov told Russian media that such actions would have “historic consequences” for the international financial system.
Russian Finance Minister Anton Siluanov said on Thursday that Moscow would respond in kind, using interest earned by the blocked assets of companies from “unfriendly” countries.
While Siluanov did not specify the amount of Western assets currently held in Russia, previous calculations by RIA Novosti put the figure at roughly at par with the Russian funds frozen abroad.
Moscow has repeatedly warned that seizing its assets would amount to “theft” and not only violate international law, but undermine reserve currencies, the global financial system, and the world economy.
