Russia warns of downgrading diplomatic relations with the US if the West carries out plans to confiscate Moscow’s assets frozen abroad.
“Downgrading diplomatic relations is one of the options. Many senior government officials have warned of Russia’s economic, financial and tangible measures if they take them,” Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergey Ryabkov said today, mentioning that the West wants to confiscate frozen Moscow assets.
According to Mr. Ryabkov, Russia is studying the best response plan, including targeting Western assets and diplomatic measures.
Mr. Ryabkov did not specify how Russia-US relations might change. The two sides have not made an official move to downgrade relations since Russia launched its campaign in Ukraine in February 2022. The Kremlin recently described the current state of bilateral relations as “below zero”.
Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergey Ryabkov. Image: TASS
Mr. Ryabkov warned in the context of Western countries considering confiscating frozen Russian assets abroad to aid Ukraine. After Russia launched its campaign in Ukraine, the West responded by launching a series of sanctions, freezing about $300 billion in assets of the Russian central bank, mostly in Europe, with a small portion in U.S.A.
The Kremlin has repeatedly stated that any action to confiscate assets would go against all the principles of the free market set by the West, erode confidence in the USD as well as the euro, and hinder global investment. demand and undermine confidence in Western central banks. Russia affirmed that it would sue any action to confiscate its assets in court.
Some Russian officials say that if Russian assets are confiscated, the assets of foreign investors trapped in special so-called “C” accounts in Russia could face a similar fate. . It is unclear exactly how much money is in these accounts.
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