Russia warns of tit-for-tat moves against Western asset freezing

The Russian Federation has threatened retaliation against Western nations over the freezing of its assets, asserting that it possesses a range of political and economic countermeasures.

This warning was issued by the Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Caliber.Az reports via Russian media.

According to the ministry, the European Union's attempts to "seize" Russian assets could irreparably damage the reputation of its financial institutions. These institutions have long been perceived as reliable and stable players in the global securities market. The Russian government argues that such actions would undermine this reputation, which has been carefully built over decades.

The ministry also emphasized that if the EU persists in imposing what Russia views as illegal sanctions, the consequences for the Russian financial and economic system could be severe. The Russian response will be strategic and measured, intended to counteract the asset freezes without causing undue harm to Russia’s domestic economic operators.

The Foreign Ministry stressed that while Russia is prepared to take action in response to these sanctions, it aims to ensure that its measures are balanced and do not negatively impact its own economic entities.

On 22 July, the European Commission's high representative for foreign and security policy, Josep Borrell, said that the first tranche of funds from the expropriation of the proceeds from the frozen Russian assets worth €1.4 billion would be transferred to the European Commission in the first week of August.

Russian Foreign Ministry spokesperson Maria Zakharova said that Russia would respond harshly in case of a tranche of its assets to Ukraine. According to her, a decision on the response will be made on each item in an interdepartmental format.

Earlier, the EU said that it was not afraid of Russia's response to the use of its assets for Ukraine.