MOSCOW, December 19. /TASS/. The seizure of Russian assets in Europe would undermine trust in the Euro zone, Russian President Vladimir Putin said during his combined Direct Line Q&A session and year-end press conference headlined "Results of the Year."
"There would also be more severe consequences for those who are trying to do it. It’s not just a blow to their image; it’s a breakdown of trust in the Euro zone, in this particular case. The reason is that apart from Russia, many other countries also keep their gold and currency reserves in Europe, as well as those who have free resources," Putin noted.
According to him, this primarily concerns oil producing countries. "They will take a look at what is happening now - they already are watching - and they will become suspicious and doubtful. And what if the move actually takes place? You know, it will only be the beginning, and after that, it will be possible to do the same thing over and over again under various pretexts," Putin pointed out.
He slammed attempts to seize Russia’s assets as "robbery," and stressed that Moscow would defend its interests in court.
European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen announced earlier that participants in an EU summit had failed to agree to seize Russia’s frozen assets in the form of a "reparations loan" for Kiev. Instead, they decided to lend Ukraine 90 billion euros in group loans.