Russia is preparing “a package of countermeasures” to respond to the possibility of the European Union (EU) using frozen Russian funds to finance Ukraine, Russian diplomacy announced this Thursday, December 4th.
“The preparation of a package of countermeasures, should this theft and confiscation of Russian assets occur, is underway”said Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova.
“Any illegal action involving our reserves and state assets will not go unanswered”he stated, cited by the Russian news agency TASS.
Zakharova assured that “there will be a reaction” from Moscow if the EU chooses to use Russian assets that were frozen following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in February 2022.
“The international community will not ignore this situation,” the spokeswoman said during a press conference in Moscow, according to Spanish news agency Europa Press.
The European Commission on Wednesday presented the legal basis for moving forward with the proposal to finance a €140 billion reparations loan to Ukraine with Russian sovereign assets frozen in Belgium.
The Belgian Government openly questions the legality of the plan and warns that it could lead the country to bankruptcy, which is why it demands guarantees from EU partners regarding the distribution of any consequences of the measure.
Russia has already warned Belgium that it will be held accountable, “in a way that will not be easy”, if it authorizes the use of frozen Russian assets to support Ukraine.
Zakharova accused the EU of using all means at its disposal, including measures “without a legal basis”, to act against Russia.
“This case, in which the understanding of the flaws inherent in a failed strategy that the Russophobic wing imposed on the entire EU, borders on political madness”, he criticized.
Zakharova said the “desire to harm Russia literally overshadows every other consideration.”
“No one in the EU even hides the fact that there is no legal basis for this type of action. It is theft, there is no other possible definition”, he added.
There are currently around 210 billion euros in frozen Russian assets in the EU, mainly in Belgium, where Euroclear, one of the largest financial securities institutions in the world, is based.
The Russian parliament on November 20 asked Prime Minister Mikhail Mishustin to order “a plan on the Russian Federation’s response to be prepared in advance” if the EU adopted the decision.
The plan should include “legal measures” against Belgium and Euroclear, “in the event of an attack” on Russian assets in Europe, according to the resolution approved at the time.
The president of the European Central Bank (ECB), Christine Lagarde, said on Wednesday that covering a loan to Ukraine, backed by frozen Russian assets, would mean breaking EU legislation.
In this sense, he recalled that Euroclear holds a portfolio of 40 billion euros in assets, including Russian ones.
Mobilizing such funds to make them available to Kiev would require the ECB to offer guarantees, which would have negative implications for financial stability and confidence in the eurozone and the euro, he said.
If EU leaders give the green light to the assets proposal at the summit within two weeks, implementation will not be immediate, as it will require a series of procedures at national level.
Community services admitted that it could be ready in the second quarter of 2026.
Kiev would only have to return the reparations loan if, at the end of the war, Russia assumed responsibility and financially compensated Ukraine for the damage caused by the invasion.
In addition to Belgian reticence, the European Commission also faces opposition from Hungary, whose Prime Minister, Viktor Orbán, has warned that the delivery of Russian assets to Ukraine will have “unpredictable consequences” such as the collapse of the euro.