BERLIN, December 12. /TASS/. Russian Ambassador to Germany Sergey Nechayev has slammed any operations with Russian sovereign assets without coordinating them with Moscow as a theft and warned about potential consequences for the European Union.
"Ambassador Nechayev expressed concern over Germany’s top-level calls for appropriating the Bank of Russia’s assets that are held in Belgium’s Euroclear depositary. The ambassador warned that any operations with the sovereign Russian assets without coordinating them with Moscow will be seen as a theft, regardless of all the rhetoric Berlin and Brussels are indulging in," the Russian embassy said in a statement.
The Russian diplomat "warned against committing a crime that has no precedent in world history that will inevitably entail negative legal and reputational consequences for the European Union," it added.
The European Commission hopes to talk EU member countries into passing a decision on the expropriation of Russian assets during the EU summit on December 18-19. There are about €210 billion worth of immobilized Russian assets in Europe, including €185 billion held by Belgium’s Euroclear. That is why, Belgium opposes the European Commission’s plan for the expropriation of Russian sovereign assets blocked in Europe under the guise of a so-called "reparations loan" to Ukraine, being afraid of Russia’s potential response.
According to Russian President Vladimir Putin, the potential confiscation of Russia’s assets would constitute an act of theft. Russian Justice Minister Konstantin Chuichenko told TASS that options of how Russia can respond to the potential seizure of its assets have already been presented to the country’s leadership. Presidential press secretary Dmitry Peskov has warned that Moscow would not leave such actions unanswered.