MOSCOW, June 27. /TASS/. The European Union will not follow the example of the United States and the UK if those countries decide to seize Russian assets, Ekaterina Arapova, Deputy Dean, Department of International Relations, MGIMO University, said during a discussion at the Valdai Club.
"The European Union is unlikely to follow this path in the near future, since they value very much, first of all, the attitude of strategically important, critically important investors from the Middle East, from Asia, and Chinese investors," Arapova said.
"Legal registration of any mechanisms associated with seizure or deprivation of property rights would be a serious blow to their reputation. I think that they are still not ready for this," she added.
On the contrary, in the US, the UK and Canada, the rhetoric in favor of confiscation will become increasingly popular the expert noted.
"Although here we also need to understand that there are a lot of opponents to this initiative both in Canada and in the UK. And we see this by simply analyzing how the discussion is going at the level of political players and at the business level," the analyst said.
Arapova recalled that the UK had previously considered a bill on the seizure of Russian assets, but it was rejected due to very high concerns about "investment climate indicators" and "preserving the fundamental principles of the institution of private property."
But she clarified that in case of further escalation of relations, "a certain legal institutionalization and legal registration of this regime is possible in the UK."
The EU, Canada, the United States and Japan froze Russia's assets in the amount of about $300 billion after the start of the special military operation. Of these, about $5-6 billion are located in the United States, with most of the rest being in Europe, including on the international Euroclear site in Belgium, where $210 billion are stored.
Earlier the European Commission approved a proposal to use proceeds from blocked Russian funds to support Kiev. At the end of April, US President Joe Biden signed a package of bills providing further major military assistance to Israel, Ukraine and Taiwan, as well as the seizure of Russian assets frozen in the United States.
Russian Foreign Ministry Spokeswoman Maria Zakharova announced that Moscow will immediately take steps in response to the seizure of its assets in the West. She called the intentions of Western countries to use proceeds from frozen Russian funds in favor of Ukraine cynical and criminal.