Moscow may seize private US assets in Russia if US seizes frozen reserves, says Putin ally

MOSCOW (Reuters) – Russia might react to any U.S. confiscation of its currency reserves frozen in the West by taking the possessions, consisting of residential or commercial property and money, of U.S. residents and financiers in Russia, Dmitry Medvedev, a senior security authorities, stated on Saturday.

The U.S. House of Representatives has actually passed a costs enabling the Biden administration to take Russian possessions kept in American banks and move them to Ukraine, something the Kremlin has actually stated would be prohibited and set off retaliation.

In action to Russia’s war in Ukraine, the United States and its allies forbade deals with Russia’s reserve bank and financing ministry and obstructed about $300 billion of sovereign Russian possessions in the West, the majority of which remain in European not American banks.

The Group of Seven (G7) significant democracies is likewise taking a look at what it might have the ability to do around the frozen Russian possessions.

Medvedev, a close ally of President Vladimir Putin and the deputy chairman of Russia’s Security Council, stated on Saturday that Russia would not have the ability to strike back in kind versus any U.S. seizure of its reserves.

“The factor is clear – we do not have a substantial quantity of American state residential or commercial property, consisting of cash, rights and other United States properties. The response can just be unbalanced. It is not a reality that it will be any less uncomfortable,” Medvedev composed on his main Telegram channel.

“We are discussing the foreclosure, for instance by a court choice, on the home of personal people found in the jurisdiction of Russia (cash, property and movable home in kind, residential or commercial property rights).”

“Yes, this is an intricate story, given that these people generally functioned as financiers in the Russian economy,” Medvedev stated. “And we ensured them the inviolability of their personal property rights. The unforeseen took place – their state declared a hybrid war on us. This should be addressed.”

He stated the law in Russia would require to be altered to permit such property seizures in favour of the Russian state.

Russian Central Bank guv Elvira Nabiullina stated on Friday Moscow would protect its genuine interests on the occasion that its possessions were seized, however did not divulge the method and methods.