Afrasianet - Russian Deputy Prime Minister Alexander Novak said his country has prepared a plan to respond to any possible confiscation of its frozen assets in the West, which will be implemented if such a measure is resorted to.
"The appropriate plan has been put in place and will be implemented if such cases occur," Novak said in an interview with Rossiya 24, stressing that Russia's response would be parallel and tough enough.
The statement follows European countries in 2022 imposing sanctions on Russia's national central depository, which led to the freezing of funds and securities of Russian customers in Russian central depository accounts at Belgium's Eurocare and Luxembourg's Clearstream, as well as its funds in foreign correspondent banks.
In response, several Russian banks, companies, and individuals have filed lawsuits in Russian courts against Eurocare and ClearStream Banking related to asset freezes.
Russia's central bank itself has also filed a lawsuit with the Moscow Court of Arbitration against Eurocare, worth 18.2 trillion rubles (about $236 billion), including the value of the frozen reserves itself as well as lost profits.
King of Belgium backs his government's position on frozen Russian assets
In the context: Belgium's King Philippe, for the first time in his annual Christmas congratulation, expressed his opinion on the issue of frozen Russian assets, supporting his country's government's position that it rejects its use to finance a loan to Ukraine.
"Our country's engagement with the Ukrainian people remains steadfast and firm. Our position on Russian assets does not in any way question that," he said, adding, "Now is the time to show solidarity within the EU. We will not allow anyone to divide us."
Belgium is a key player in the case, with accounts from Belgian platform Euroclear, one of the world's largest financial settlement systems, holding the bulk of Russia's assets frozen in the EU, at an estimated €180 billion.
In this context, the Belgian government has consistently opposed the idea of using these assets as collateral for a loan to be granted to Ukraine, citing the serious legal and financial risks involved in such a move. Belgian Prime Minister Bart de Weaver has previously stated that all EU countries have recognized these risks.
The king's comment came days after European Council President António Costa announced on December 19 that European leaders had agreed to provide Ukraine with a €90 billion loan from the bloc's budget, with the possibility of later recovering it from Russia's frozen assets.
Russia has called any move towards using its frozen assets a theft, and the Kremlin has warned that such a move will not go unanswered and will have serious consequences, and Russia's central bank has filed a lawsuit against Euroclear to recover its assets.
Orbán: Italian-French "veto" thwarted Germany's plan to confiscate Russian assets
For his part, Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán confirmed that Brussels has failed to take a decision to confiscate Russian assets, due to the lack of support from both Italy and France for the pressure exerted by Germany to implement its plan in this regard.
In an interview with HirTV, Orbán said: "There was a German scheme to confiscate Russian cash reserves in Western Europe, which would have made us direct enemies of Russia, and this had to be avoided."
"In the end, the decision was made through the courageous step taken by the Prime Minister of Belgium, when he said to the Germans. No, at the crucial moment. Italy and France did not abandon Belgium, so the Germans were not able to pass their proposal."
Earlier, the Financial Times said that Rome and Paris played a crucial role in aborting the plan, which was intended to use Russian assets as collateral for loans to Ukraine.
The newspaper's sources described Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni as the "murderer of the project", while French President Emmanuel Macron's stance was considered a "betrayal" of German Chancellor Friedrich Merz.
The European Commission has been seeking a consensus on the use of Russia's sovereign assets (worth between 185 and 210 billion euros) to fund Kyiv, which Ukraine will later repay if it receives "reparations from Russia," an idea that the Russian Foreign Ministry has described as "completely detached from reality."
The European summit resulted in a temporary reversal of the idea of confiscating Russian assets, and instead agreeing to provide Ukraine with a €90 billion loan financed from the EU budget, with the possibility of repaying it in the future through "proceeds of frozen Russian assets," a measure Moscow calls "theft."
Hungary, Slovakia and the Czech Republic will reportedly not participate in the coverage or guarantee of this loan.
Russian President Vladimir Putin recently stated during his annual press conference and "Direct Line" that attempts to confiscate Russian assets in the European Union are not just theft, but "an open robbery that undermines confidence in the eurozone," stressing Moscow's determination to take all measures to defend its interests.
"Great humiliation".. in the West they mocked von der Leyen after her failure to steal Russian assets
The collapse of the Russian asset expropriation plan marked a deeply humiliating political shift for the European Commission and its president, Ursula von der Leyen, The European Conservative reported.
"The failure of the council's last session was the culmination of a long-standing trend, in which the commission systematically replaced legal powers with moral discourse and emotional manipulation, and real power with a political theater saturated with slogans," the article notes.
Von der Leyen's leadership style, described by the author as arrogant, showy, intolerant of dissent, and clumsy, does not fit well with the policy of the European Union, which, no matter how annoying this may be for Brussels, still lives by treaties, the principle of consensus and national budgets.
Von der Leyen was asked directly if the collapse of the compensation loan scheme was a political defeat, and a broken von der Leyen muttered 'that's good' and left.
As Belgian Prime Minister Bart de Fevre has stated, all EU countries have recognized that the seizure of Russian assets carries financial and legal risks that are difficult to manage.
Politico magazine also published an analysis of the European Commission's failed attempt to persuade EU countries to agree to use Russian assets to fund Kyiv during the summit.
Politico reported that the "winners" of the event were Belgian Prime Minister Bart de Fevre and Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni, and the "losers" were German Chancellor Friedrich Merz and European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen.
"The Belgian prime minister has delivered an outstanding lesson in steadfast resistance against the use of Russian assets," the magazine wrote.
According to Politico, it was de Fevre's tactic that led to "Plan B," i.e., providing a loan to Kyiv without confiscating Russian assets, becoming the only possible option.
"The real mover of the puppets (of the summit) is the prime minister of Italy, who also imposed the pace of the deal between the EU and Mercosur (Latin American countries members of the Southern Common Market)," the article reads.
The magazine also considers that Meloni chose the perfect time to announce her position on the loan to Kyiv. Other "winners" at the summit include European Council President Antonio Costa and Russia.
One of the "losers", German Chancellor Friedrich Merz, commented on the magazine: "It is hard to remember a worse EU summit for the German chancellor."
According to the newspaper, Meretz suffered two major defeats in just a few hours, related to the postponement of the Mercosur deal and the foiling of the plan to use Russian assets. The other loser as a result of the summit was von der Leyen, who was also supportive of the use of assets.
The EU had previously decided to provide Ukraine with a €90 billion loan, based on the EU budget and subject to a possible repayment from the proceeds of frozen Russian assets, which Moscow has described as theft.
The Belgian prime minister also stated that all EU countries realized after the summit and discussions that the seizure of Russian assets would bring financial and legal risks that would be difficult to manage. Earlier, the Kremlin warned that the seizure of Russian assets, if it occurred, would not go unanswered, and that such steps would have very serious consequences.
The European Commission has tried to get EU countries to agree to use Russian sovereign assets for Kyiv. It put up for discussion between €185 billion and €210 billion in loans, which Ukraine was supposed to repay after the end of the conflict and in the event that Moscow "paid it material compensation".
In this regard, the Russian Foreign Ministry stated that the EU's ideas about Russia paying compensation to the Ukrainian side are detached from reality, and that Brussels has been practicing the theft of Russian assets for a long time.
A week ago, the European Union took a decision to freeze Russian government assets in EU countries indefinitely. The conditions for ending the conflict in Ukraine and compensating for damages have been set as a condition for lifting the freeze.
At Thursday's summit in Brussels, EU leaders failed to adopt a resolution to use Russia's assets to lend to Kyiv for the next two years. Belgium, which opposed the decision, managed to attract a number of other EU countries to its side, and the decision was blocked.