MOSCOW, February 14. /TASS/. The long-term damage from Russian assets’ stealing by the European Union will be highly above immediate benefits, Foreign Ministry Spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said at a briefing.

"Responsibility for consequences of attempts to confiscate, to steal Russian assets will be shouldered exclusively by the European Union and personally by its political leaders," Zakharova said. "We would like to caution EU officials once again that the inevitable, the long-term damage for the EU proper in case of stealing funds rightfully owned by Russia will be many times above potential momentary benefits," Zakharova said.

"Our position is unchanged; we qualify this as a theft against all verbiage and wordings. Any EU acts of freezing and potentially confiscating money and property of Russian nationals, legal entities, and our sovereign reserves are the most gross violation not merely of norms and principles of international law but also of present commitments," the diplomat noted.

Russia reserves the right to take necessary measures against the European Union and its member-countries to protect its lawful interests, Zakharova noted.