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Moscow will not leave the potential US decision to hand over its frozen assets to Ukraine unanswered, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told journalists on Saturday. His words came after the US Congress greenlighted a potential transfer.
“America will have to pay for this, if it is indeed so,” the Russian official said, referring to the potential confiscation. Moscow set no time limits for responding to Washington’s actions, he stated, adding that Russia will tailor its response to “serve our interests in the best possible way.”
The US would hurt itself if it proceeds with such a plan, the Kremlin spokesman warned. Confiscating Russian assets undermine the principle of “inviolability of private… and state property,” he said. Such a move would prompt many investors to withdraw their money from the US and cause “irreparable damage to the US image,” Peskov believes.
Peskov did not elaborate on what specific measures Moscow could take in response to the seizure of its assets.
Earlier on Saturday, the US House of Representatives passed the Rebuilding Economic Prosperity and Opportunity (REPO) for Ukrainians Act, which essentially opened the way for the US government to liquidate frozen Russian assets and transfer the funds obtained to Ukraine.
The bill was adopted as part of a legislative package that also included authorizing $61 billion in additional spending on aid to Kiev. The emergency spending bill had been stalled in Congress since last fall as lawmakers were concerned that Washington lacked a strategy for victory or a peace settlement in the Ukraine conflict.
The EU and other G7 nations have blocked an estimated $300 billion in assets belonging to the Russian central bank since the start of the Ukraine conflict in 2022. Of that amount, €196.6 billion ($211 billion) is being held by the Belgium-based clearinghouse Euroclear. Since last year, those funds accumulated nearly €4.4 billion in interest.
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