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NATO PA Members Call for ‘Better Scrutiny’ of Money Coming From Russia

BRUSSELS (Sputnik) - The members of the NATO Parliamentary Assembly (PA) have called on the Alliance to pay meticulous attention to the funds coming from Russia over what they regard as Moscow’s involvement in hybrid warfare attacks on the West.
Sputnik

"We need better scrutiny of the Russian money that is coming to our countries," UK’s Lord Jopling said in relation to the luxury assets of the Russian wealthy individuals abroad, as quoted in the statement.

The Russian private investments overseas are believed to stand at $800 billion, mainly concentrated in the United Kingdom and the United States, according to the estimates of Anders Aslund, an expert with the Atlantic Council think tank.

"Lawmakers discussed several other possible counter-measures against Russian hybrid actions, including restrictions on anonymous social media attacks; improved education to tackle Russian disinformation campaigns; improved intelligence cooperation; and enhanced cyber defenses, especially those protecting electoral systems," the NATO PA's press service said in a statement.

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Earlier in May, the UK parliament's lower house has urged the Cabinet to expose the names of Russian beneficiaries of assets, registered in the UK overseas territories such as the Cayman Islands and the British Virgin Islands amid the bilateral row over the poisoning of double agent Sergei Skripal.

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said that Russia cooperates with international authorities in the fight against illegally obtained money and money laundering, but noted that the UK position is "insidious" as the country has offshore zones on its territory.

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Following the Skripal incident, UK Prime Minister Theresa May has threatened to freeze Russian state assets if London obtains evidence that they "may be used to threaten the life or property of UK nationals or residents."

Russia has been repeatedly accused of malign cyberactivity but refuted the allegations as groundless. Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov has said that the West did not even have weak arguments for their claims, adding that these ill-founded accusations have been completely devalued.

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