WASHINGTON, January 17. /TASS/. Moscow will have to resort to symmetric measures in case the West decides to confiscate Russia’s state assets, Russian Ambassador to the United States Anatoly Antonov said in an interview with TASS on Wednesday.

"Indeed, the confiscation of Russian sovereign assets in the United States is being actively discussed. A bill to empower the administration to do so is now being considered in Congress," Antonov said.

"If Washington and its satellites do decide to steal our sovereign assets, I assure you that Russia will not leave such a challenge without a strong and proportionate response. We will, in fact, be compelled to act symmetrically," he stressed.

"Although the behavior of the White House in this regard is not very predictable, everyone here knows well enough that drastic steps, essentially, the theft of money, may well entail significant implications for the dollar," Antonov noted.

"Quite remarkable in this regard are comments by US experts to the effect that the United States is not prepared, acting unilaterally, to put the status [as the global reserve currency] of the [US] national currency at risk, the more so since the legal basis of [such potential asset seizures] is very controversial," diplomat said. "Even for the sake of confirming its commitment to the notorious formula 'We will help Ukraine for as long as it takes.'"

"From this we have the endless tweaking of the [asset seizure] narrative, stoked by Washington, among its allies, primarily in the Group of Seven. However, domestic [US] analysts openly acknowledge that Washington's "body language" at the possibility of seizing Russia’s sovereign assets is primarily part of an attempt to prod the Europeans into taking more decisive action."

"Especially since it is precisely in the Old World that the ‘lion's share’ of our funds are stuck (according to the European bureaucrats, about $200 bln)," he continued. "At the same time, domestic [US] experts doubt that any breakthrough decisions will be agreed upon at the upcoming G7 meetings in February. Even Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen herself acknowledged the discord among the [G7] participants in light of concerns that the global financial system overall could be thrown off balance not to mention the fact that there are no legal grounds for such drastic action."

"Nor does the West want to see serious quarrels with the developing countries, for which the confiscation of foreign assets would serve as a vivid precedent [and preview of what may befall them]," the Russian ambassador stated. "The Global South would have even stronger doubts about the reliability of those [Western] capitals that place political subservience to their [dominant] partners above the inviolability of the rule of law."

US Assistant Secretary of State for European and Eurasian Affairs James O'Brien said earlier in the month that Washington had not decided as of yet on a possible confiscation of Russia’s assets, frozen by the West, at the sum of around $300 billion. According to him, the decision will be made jointly with G7 partners.

Russian Central Bank Governor Elvira Nabiullina said on November 8 that freezing and confiscation of Russian assets by the West "will set a precedent of negative consequences overall for the development of the global financial system."