Zakharova warns of "painful response" if frozen Russian assets are confiscated
Russia will deliver a "very painful response" if its assets in the West are confiscated.
As reported by Censor.NET, citing Interfax, Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova made the statement.
"It must be clearly understood that no one will be able to hide behind so-called collective responsibility for implementing confiscation initiatives," she said at a briefing.
What Zakharova said
Zakharova claimed that "on the principle of reciprocity, Russia will give the expropriators a guaranteed and very painful response."
According to her, Moscow’s response "will be well-calibrated" and "aimed at compensating for the damage inflicted."
Use of frozen Russian assets
Earlier, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen proposed using frozen Russian assets as collateral for providing Ukraine with "reparation loans." Formally, the sanctioned assets would not be confiscated, but Ukraine would only repay the loans after Russia pays reparations.
According to various estimates, the EU’s "reparation loan" for Ukraine, backed by Russian assets, could amount to €130–140 billion. The final amount will be determined after the International Monetary Fund assesses Ukraine’s financing needs for 2026 and 2027.
Overall, Euroclear currently holds more than €175 billion in cash from frozen Russian assets that could be used to secure the new loan. However, before the EU approves the reparation loan, it intends to repay the G7’s €45 billion ($50 billion) loan to Ukraine, agreed upon last year, which was to be serviced using profits from frozen Russian assets.
