Last month, Russia hinted at the possibility of confiscating Western assets worth $288 billion (Getty)
The Kremlin warned - on Monday - Western powers that any attempt to use frozen Russian assets as collateral to raise financing for Ukraine would be illegal and would undermine the entire global economic system.
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov's comments come in response to a Bloomberg report that stated that the G7 is discussing with the European Union a plan to use more than $250 billion of the Russian Central Bank's frozen assets as a guarantee to help finance the reconstruction of Ukraine.
Last month, Moscow hinted at the possibility of confiscating assets of Western countries worth $288 billion if these countries confiscated their assets for use in the reconstruction of Ukraine, according to what the Russian Information Agency reported.
The United States and its allies blocked transactions with the Russian Central Bank and Finance Ministry after President Vladimir Putin sent troops to Ukraine in February 2022, blocking about $300 billion in Russian sovereign assets in the West.
In recent months, American and British officials have worked to push for the confiscation of frozen Russian assets in Belgium and other European countries in order to help with reconstruction in Ukraine.
Last December, Reuters quoted unnamed sources as saying that they hoped that the leaders of the G7 countries would agree to issue a stronger declaration of intent when they meet in late February on the second anniversary of the start of the Russian-Ukrainian war.
Moscow accused Washington of trying to pressure countries in Europe, where most Russian assets are concentrated, to join these measures.
Source: Al Jazeera + Reuters