Russia has warned Europe on Tuesday that it will retaliate if the West seizes almost $300 billion of Russian assets to help Ukraine. Valentina Matviyenko, an ally of President Vladimir Putin and president of the Russian upper house of parliament, made the statement after the US and its allies banned transactions with Russia’s central bank and finance ministry, freezing roughly $300 billion of Russian assets in the West.
Top officials in the United States are considering seizing assets to aid Ukraine, although some bankers and European officials are concerned about setting a dangerous precedent. The American House of Representatives passed a law on Saturday with a provision allowing for the seizure of Russian property, even though the majority of Russian assets are in Europe, not the US.
Matviyenko emphasized that if European countries seize Russian property, they will lose more than Russia. She also stated that Russia has prepared a bill with retaliatory measures that they are ready to consider immediately. The details of the Russian response to property seizure are still being discussed in the West.
Putin has characterized the West’s actions as an economic war against Russia, arguing that the Russian economy, which grew by 3.6 percent last year, is resilient to Western sanctions. The Kremlin has reiterated that any seizure of its assets would undermine confidence in the US dollar and the euro, deter global investment, and go against free market principles.
Vyacheslav Volodin, leader of the lower house of the Russian parliament, expressed that Russia has grounds to seize Western assets in response to US legislation. He pointed out that out of $280 billion of Russian assets frozen abroad, only $5 to $6 billion are in
