The European Union is estimated to hold some $300 billion in Russian central bank assets together with its G7 allies, including the United States, Japan and Canada. The Western allies have been holding talks on how to tap the frozen funds to help pay for the reconstruction of Ukraine, but Russia argues this is illegal and will ruin the West’s image as a safe haven for global money.
"We will certainly respond. We also have an option of not returning the funds that Western countries kept in Russia and that were frozen in response to the seizure of Russian state reserves. There can be no doubt here that we will act accordingly," Lavrov said during a press conference.
Russia will approach foreign companies doing business in the country on an individual basis, considering each specific case, Lavrov added.
In December 2023, the New York Times reported that the US and its European allies renewed discussions to go after frozen Russian assets and use them to aid Ukraine. Later, Bloomberg reported that the White House supported a bill that would allow the confiscation. US diplomat James O’Brien said that the country proposed legislation to authorize the seizure and utilization of Russian assets, but the decision concerning its implementation was awaiting coordination with G7 partners.
Meanwhile, European Council President Charles Michel previously noted that drawing up a legal framework that would allow the EU to seize Russian state money would not be an easy task, and suggested focusing on unlocking the profits generated by those assets first.
Russia views potential attempts by the US and the EU to seize Russian assets as theft and also an act of trade war, and Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova has warned that Moscow would have a tough response to such an escalation of economic aggression.