Kremlin: Russia will prosecute those involved in stealing its assets in legal ways

Europe opted for the worst way when deciding to use frozen Russian assets to help Kiev. Russia is going to organize legal prosecution of those involved in stealing its assets in Europe, Kremlin Spokesman Dmitry Peskov said, TASS informs.

"Certainly, we will explore the opportunity of juridical, legal prosecution of those individuals that are involved in making decisions and in implementing these decisions, because this is the direct violation of international law, trampling over the right of property, and so on and so forth," the Kremlin Spokesman told reporters.

Europe opted for the worst way when deciding to use frozen Russian assets to help Kiev, Peskov noted. "This money is not merely stolen essentially but is further spent to buy weapons. It is probably difficult to devise something worse," he added.

Over $300 billion in Russian assets were reported frozen in Western banks' coffers in 2022, most of them belonging to the Russian Central Bank, Sputnik Globe reminds.  

Belgium plans to collect 3 billion euros a year in windfall profits from Russian assets frozen in the country’s coffers to give to Ukraine for “reconstruction” purposes, Prime Minister Alexander De Croo announced. De Croo explained that Belgium was “very involved” in the issue because upwards of 90 percent of the Russian assets frozen in the EU’s jurisdiction are trapped in Belgian banks.

“The use of these funds for the military needs of Ukraine and its reconstruction makes sense from an economic point of view and from a moral point of view,” the Belgian leader assured.

The European Commission estimated in May that the bloc has frozen over 200 billion euros in assets belonging to Russia’s Central Bank, plus 24.1 billion owned by Russian companies and individuals.

Asked to comment on Brussels’ plans, Christopher C Black, an international criminal and human rights lawyer with over 20 years’ experience under his belt, said that if realized, they would constitute “theft twice over” – first by seizing the money in the first place, and then preventing Russia from collecting its due interest.

“The crime of theft becomes compounded with insult by giving the money to Kiev to finance the war against Russia, and if the money is so transferred by EU government order, it will be [an] act of war – since a nation supplying financial support to another nation to carry on a war can be considered under international law as a party to the war,” Black explained.

read more in our Telegram-channel https://t.me/The_International_Affairs