The United States and the United Kingdom are setting up continental Europe for a military face-off with Moscow, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov has claimed.
The majority of EU countries and the European Commission are in favor of extending the sanctions renewal period for the Russian assets frozen by the bloc from six to 36 months, according to a report.
Kremlin Spokesperson Dmitry Peskov responded to European Union (EU) moves to pilfer interest from frozen Russian assets to pay for military aid to Ukraine, warning that such actions will not go unanswered.
Brussels-based depositary and clearing house Euroclear has confirmed that it will confiscate interest generated by the frozen Russian funds that it holds and will transfer the money to Kiev.
Moscow has enough capabilities to counter such hostile moves by Washington as its just-announced deployment of new missiles to Europe, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov has stated.
The European Union approved the transfer of €1.4 billion ($1.5 billion) in profits from Russia’s frozen assets as military assistance to Ukraine, the bloc’s foreign affairs chief Josep Borrell has announced.
Russia has expanded its travel ban list and vowed a “proper response” to any further unfriendly acts from Brussels after the EU announced an expansion of unilateral restrictive measures against Moscow.
Moscow has a “wide arsenal” of political and economic countermeasures to respond to the potential confiscation of its sovereign assets, including a tit-for-tat seizure of Western property in Russia, Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova has warned.
Brussels has failed to agree on the new round of sanctions against Russia because of Germany’s opposition to the proposed plan to punish companies doing business with Moscow, Reuters has reported, citing EU diplomats.
The European Union is considering imposing tariffs on up to €42 billion ($46 billion) worth of imports from Russia that until now have been spared from the bloc’s sanctions regime, Financial Times has reported.
Moscow has castigated the decision by the EU to use income from frozen Russian sovereign assets to help Ukraine as expropriation, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov has stated.
The European Union has agreed on the expropriation of revenue generated from frozen Russian assets to continue funding and arming Kiev, Brussels announced. The bloc’s ambassadors agreed on the course of action “in principle”, but the legal text still must be ratified by the EU Council.
EU clearinghouse Euroclear has accrued €1.6 billion ($1.7 billion) in interest from frozen Russian assets in just three months of this year, its CEO Valerie Urbain disclosed. She warned however, that tapping the funds would have a severe impact on global financial markets.
The European Union will reportedly allow neutral member states to opt out of its plan to use the revenue generated from frozen Russian central bank reserves to buy weapons and ammunition for Ukraine and limit themselves to providing non-military aid to the country.
High Representative of the European Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy, Josep Borrell, has admitted that not every EU member state agrees to view Russia as Europe’s “most existential threat”. He argued that such differences are jeopardizing the bloc’s policies, especially the resolve to provide military aid to Ukraine.
Any Western-backed Ukrainian attack against "Russia’s Crimean Bridge or Crimea itself" will be met with a powerful revenge strike from Moscow, Foreign Ministry Spokeswoman Maria Zakharova has cautioned.
No option has been taken off the table as the G-7 countries continue to discuss the possibility of using the Russian assets frozen by the West to aid Ukraine, Reuters has reported, citing a senior US Treasury official.
The European Union has introduced sanctions against correctional facilities Nos. 6 and 3 and thirty-three individuals within the framework of sanctions related to the death of Aleksey Navalny, the EU Council announced in its decree posted in the Official Journal.
President Vladimir Putin of Russia warned the West on Wednesday that Moscow was technically ready for a nuclear war and that if the U.S. sent troops to Ukraine it would be considered a significant escalation of the conflict.
While Brussels is searching for legal loopholes to send frozen Russian assets to Ukraine, it must keep some of the cash as a “safety buffer”, should its clearing house Euroclear get in trouble, potentially jeopardizing the entire global financial system, a senior EU official has told Reuters.
Ambassadors from the European Union member states must be expelled from Russia, former President Dmitry Medvedev has stated, citing their refusal to discuss "election meddling" with Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov.
The European Commission is working hard to abandon Russian gas supplies it receives through Ukraine, the commission’s spokesperson, Tim McPhie, has stated. The EU’s gas transit contract with Moscow expires at the end of 2024.
