Moscow, Feb 17 (IANS) Russia on Friday said any attempts by Western powers to transfer seized Russian assets to Ukraine would be “barbarism” and if necessary, it is ready to impose a reciprocal move.
At a press briefing, Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said that EU nations had invested heavily in Russia and a significant amount of European-owned assets remain in the country – with a value is larger than that of the Russian assets seized by foreign nations, RT reported.
Zakharova stressed that Russia wants to operate within the law and would give the US and its allies “every last chance” to reconsider any plans to confiscate Russian property. However, she added that Moscow was fully prepared to defend its interests, including through the use of “equal compensatory measures”.
Her remarks came in wake of a new EU working group set up to explore ways to make Russia fund the future reconstruction of Ukraine.
Western nations have frozen hundreds of billions of dollars’ worth of Russian sovereign reserves, as well the assets of Russians whom they consider close to the government. Moscow has branded the measures an act of robbery.
Zakharova said that property rights should not be subject to the whims and geopolitical needs of a handful of nations, adding that US foreign policy was often prone to wild swings.
International community should oppose the push for the expropriation of Russian property, otherwise, countries could otherwise find themselves on the receiving end of the “ostensibly impartial” Western-controlled financial system, Zakharova warned.
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