Russia to retaliate in kind if EU uses its frozen assets

Russia on Thursday promised to retaliate if the European Union proceeds with its proposal to isolate profits generated from Russia’s frozen assets within the EU and allocate them to Ukraine. The EU is suggesting to utilise the earnings derived from approximately $300 billion in frozen funds from Russia’s central bank reserves, potentially amounting to around $16 billion. “We also have enough assets that are frozen here, in type-C accounts,” Finance Minister Anton Siluanov said in an interview on the Russia 24 TV channel. “The figures are not small, the income from using these funds is substantial and can certainly also be used if a decision is made by our unfriendly partners,” he said. Western sanctions over Moscow’s February 2022 invasion of Ukraine and subsequent Russian countermeasures have stranded billions of dollars worth of assets. Prosecutors in Germany on Wednesday said they would move to confiscate more than 720 million euros ($790 million) from the Frankfurt bank account of a Russian financial institution. A source familiar with the matter told Reuters the institution was the National Settlement Depository (NSD), the domestic payments agent owned by Moscow Exchange, which plays an important role in Russia’s financial system as a key intermediary with international markets. With inputs from Reuters.