MOSCOW, May 24. /TASS/. Any manipulations with Russian assets by the UK authorities will constitute a flagrant violation of law and will entail response actions, Russian Ambassador to the United Kingdom Andrey Kelin sad.
"At the same time, the City [of London] and lawyers are demonstrating cautious behavior because the understand it perfectly well that any action against out sovereign assets is a violation of international law. There is international and European law on this matter. Moreover, great Britain has its own legislative act on sovereign assets, which bans to do anything to them," he said in an interview with the Rossiya-24 television channel. "Any manipulations <…> will constitute a blatant violation that will entail response actions."
"I have read a lot of comments, including by British officials, who suggest that this matter be treated as much carefully as possible to see to it that the harm for Britain from this is not bigger than what it want to incur on us," Kelin added.
Following the beginning of the special military operation, the European Union, Canada, the United States, and Japan froze Russia’s assets worth around $300 billion, with the United States accounting for around $5-6 billion. Earlier, the US Congress approved a package of bills on military aid to Ukraine, Israel, and Taiwan, on the seizure of frozen Russian assets to transfer them to Kiev, as well as on additional sanctions against China.
Russian Central Bank Governor Elvira Nabiullina said in November 2023 that the West’s seizure and freeze of Russian assets would have negative impacts on the global financial system. Russian Ambassador to the United States Anatoly Antonov said in an interview with TASS in January that Russia would have to give a tit-for-tat response should Western countries venture to seize its reserves.