For Min Spox-Confiscation Of Russian Assets Part Of 'Hybrid War'

Russian Foreign Ministry spox Maria Zakharova speaking on the prospect of the US seizing frozen Russian assets, including those beloinging to the Central Bank of Russia. Says that any "attempt to expropriate assets contradicts the laws of those countries which intend to do so...[the] blocking and seizure of Russian assets by the West is not legitimate." Zakharova: "Western attempts to take Russian assets is helping to destroy the global financial system they created...[the] West's freezing and confiscation of Russian assets is economic aggression and part of a hybrid war against Russia."

• Speaking in the Ukrainian capital Kyiv on 14 May, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said that "Our Congress has given us the power to seize Russian assets in the US. We intend to use it."
• Notably, the US only holds around USD5bn in Russian assets. This compares to the estimated EUR210bn of frozen assets held in the EU.
• The EU has proved unwilling to allow the confiscation of Russian assets, with many - including ECB President Christine Lagarde - raising concerns about the reciprocal impact it could have on European assets held elsewhere as well as potentially denigrating the EU's position as a financial hub.
• Instead, EU members are set to approve a plan that would see around EUR3bn/year in profits on frozen Russian assets held at Belgium's Euroclear transferred to Ukraine.