Russia

Ambassador Antonov Accuses US of Stealing Russian Money After Central Bank Assets Frozen

WASHINGTON (Sputnik) - Russia's ambassador in Washington, Anatoly Antonov, has accused the United States of stealing Russian money in relation to sanctions, which include a freeze on the Russian central bank's assets in the West.
Sputnik
"You steal our money. We decided to keep our money, our savings [in US and European banks]. How is it possible to trust you?" he told Politico in an interview.
The diplomat noted that Moscow has "made a lot of mistakes on the international scene."
"We trusted the United States that we could become real partners," he explained.
Moscow and Washington are still "doomed" to cooperate on a number of issues, Antonov added.
"It’s impossible to imagine even under such circumstances that problems of strategic stability, climate change, coronavirus, fighting against terrorism, fighting against the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction could be solved without active engagement of the United States and Russia," he stated.
Russia launched a special military operation in Ukraine on 24 February in response to calls from the Donbass republics of Donetsk and Lugansk for help in countering intensifying attacks by Ukrainian troops. The Russian Defence Ministry said the special operation is targeting Ukrainian military infrastructure only.
Russia
Putin: Russia Has Withstood West's 'Economic Blitzkrieg' Attempt
In response, the US and its allies have rolled out comprehensive sanctions, including export control measures, SWIFT cutoff for some Russian banks, closure of airspace to all Russian flights, and a freeze of Russia's international reserves. Finance Minister Anton Siluanov estimated that about half, or $300 billion of the country's foreign reserves, have been frozen.
Discuss