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Shkruar nga PamfletiThe Kremlin warned European leaders on Wednesday that Russia would prosecute any individual or country that steals its money and warned that the theft of Russian assets would badly affect European deposits and investments. The European Union is considering a proposal to use frozen Russian assets in Europe to finance a 140 billion euro ($164.37 billion) loan for Ukraine.
The Kremlin also warned European leaders that Russia would prosecute any person or country that steals its money and said that the theft of Russian assets would harm European deposits and investments.
At stake are $165 billion in Russian state assets, which European officials are seeking to transfer to Ukraine, writes the New York Times .
Asked about an interview with Axios in which Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said Kiev was ready to say it would seek to regain its territory only through diplomatic means in the future, Dmitry Peskov, the Kremlin spokesman, said there was a pause in the negotiation process. He stressed that Kiev, which accuses Moscow of making unreasonable demands that amount to surrender, does not appear to be in a hurry to resume talks.
His comments came a day after President Vladimir Putin signed a decree to speed up the process of redistributing assets within Russia. Analysts say Russia could respond to the European proposal by seizing the assets of foreign companies and individuals from countries that support the loan. Russia has already seized the operations of many Western companies, part of a broader redistribution of wealth during the war.
Anton Siluanov, the Russian finance minister, said last year that his country had frozen an amount of Western assets equal to the Russian assets frozen by the West, adding that Moscow would respond symmetrically. Since the start of the war, Moscow has been distributing the profits from Western assets in the country to special bank accounts frozen by the Russian state.
European officials are taking a closer look at frozen Russian money as U.S. aid to Ukraine dries up under President Trump. The European Union’s executive arm is advancing a proposal to issue an interest-free “reparations loan” of 140 billion euros, or about $165 billion, to Ukraine, designed to financially leverage Russian assets without immediately seizing them. The loan would be repaid only if Russia compensates Ukraine for damages caused during the war. Britain is considering a similar plan.
"We need a more structural solution for military support," European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said on Tuesday. "That's why I put forward the idea of a reparations loan based on frozen Russian assets."
She said the loan would be disbursed in installments and would not involve any direct seizure of Russian assets. The Group of 7 nations has already provided a loan to Ukraine using interest from Russian assets as collateral.
The idea of further exploiting the assets has gained traction after an initial proposal by Ms. von der Leyen and a similar one last week by German Chancellor Friedrich Merz. He faces growing opposition from the far-right at home who have attacked him for spending German taxpayers’ money on Ukraine. But the prime minister of Belgium, where most of the Russian assets are held, has opposed the idea, citing the huge risk to his country.
Putin's spokesman also said it was foolish for Ukraine to accuse Russia of bombing the Zaporizhia nuclear power plant in southern Ukraine, as Moscow controls the plant's facilities.
The massive Soviet-built plant is being cooled by emergency generators for the ninth day after an external power line failed. Peskov told reporters that Russia was doing everything it could to ensure the security of the plant, which he said had been repeatedly attacked by Ukrainian forces.
Russia has controlled the station, the largest in Europe, which remains close to the lines of fire between Russian and Ukrainian forces since the early days of its military campaign in Ukraine.
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