LONDON, June 21. /TASS/. Attempts of British authorities to expropriate Russian assets resemble London’s colonial-era policies, Russian Ambassador to the UK Andrey Kelin said in an interview for Sky News.

"I know the United Kingdom is very experienced in the theft of money from different countries. India has been robbed and Egypt, other countries as well. So of course it's another account of theft and robbery," Kelin said, adding that, under the international law, Russian assets are sovereign and no one but Russia can manage them, it is illegal.

In his opinion, a country that truly believes in international law cannot seriously talk about changing national legislation in order to confiscate Russian assets.

On Monday, the UK Foreign Office presented a new bill that will make it possible to retain sanctions against Russia until Moscow pays off compensations to Kiev. In addition, the bill implies that people under British sanctions will be able to donate funds for restoration of Ukraine. The new legislation also requires that people and legal entities sanctioned by London revealed information about their assets in the UK.

Since the beginning of the special military operation in Ukraine, the UK blacklisted over 1,500 Russian citizens and legal entities and froze assets worth over $23 billion.