MOSCOW, August 1. /TASS/. Seeking the return of "at least a third" of the former Soviet Union's foreign property, Kiev should have assumed a third of the Soviet Union's debts, Russian State Duma Speaker Vyacheslav Volodin said on Monday.
"Ukraine has raised the issue of the return of ‘at least a third’ of the foreign property of the former Soviet Union, which now belongs to the Russian Federation. Before claiming something, Kiev should have assumed a third of the Soviet Union debts," Volodin wrote on his Telegram channel.
This demand from Kiev can be seen as "the bankruptcy of the Kiev regime, which should stop tormenting Ukrainian people and leave," Volodin blogged.
"A huge sum as of 1994 - $110 billion. Our country paid it off, while all the republics of the former Soviet Union quit it free and clear of debts," Volodin pointed out.
Earlier on Monday, Ukrainian Ambassador to the UK Vadim Pristaiko said that Ukraine was demanding that Russia return "at least" a third of the foreign property of the former Soviet Union that Moscow had received in exchange for USSR debts.
Pristaiko acknowledged that Russia had assumed all debts of the Soviet Union in exchange for all of its foreign property going to Russia. According to him, Ukraine agreed to this, but did not ratify the documents.
In 1993, the Russian Federation undertook to pay off all debts of the former Soviet Union, with the former Soviet republics handing over the foreign assets of the former USSR. However, as Russian President Vladimir Putin said in December 2021, Moscow has repaid all debts, while Kiev has still failed to fulfill its obligation to transfer its foreign assets to Russia.