BEIRUT, September 3. /TASS/. Attempts by Western countries to seize frozen Russian assets represent outright theft, the Syrian Foreign Ministry said in a statement.

"The Syrian Arab Republic strongly condemns the attempts to confiscate the Russian Federation’s assets, as they constitute a blatant violation of the principles and foundations of international law and are nothing but plain and outright theft exposing the false nature of the West's statements about respect for the UN Charter and mutual respect for the interests of states," said the statement on Facebook (banned in Russia as it’s owned by Meta Corporation, which is designated as an extremist organization in Russia).

The MFA warned that the fallout from the move will be disastrous.

"This reckless behavior of Western countries in their attempts to seize the sovereign assets of independent countries will have devastating consequences for the global financial system, which is already suffering from the effects of unilateral coercive measures taken by the United States and its allies," the statement said.

The efforts also undermine the ownership right, according to the Syrian ministry.

"Western countries are completely rejecting any respect for the ownership right and the principle of state immunity," the statement said.

The ministry said such a policy provokes "loss of trust and exacerbates existing problems" and could lead to new global crises.