MOSCOW, August 29. /TASS/. Russia views the illegitimate confiscation of its frozen assets in the European Union as an act of hybrid war and a step on the path to escalation, Russian Foreign Ministry Spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said at a press briefing.
"Any transactions with Russian gold currency reserves without Russia’s consent are illegal. Blocking the Bank of Russia’s assets as well as any steps directed at their withdrawal crudely breach the recognized principles of the countries’ equality and the immunity of state property," she said. The diplomat noted that such actions contradict the norms of the UN Charter and the provisions of the 2004 United Nations Convention on Jurisdictional Immunities of States and Their Property.
According to Zakharova, "hypocritical attempts to justify these illegitimate actions by the purported Russian threat are rightfully assessed as legally null and do not change the essence of what’s happening, that is, the intentional breach of international law."
"The European Union’s current legal framework allows to confiscate the assets of Russian private individuals and public entities under contrived pretexts. The total volume of such assets, additionally blocked in the EU, surpasses 28 billion euros. We consider such steps as the escalation of economic aggression and an element of a hybrid war unleashed against Russia," the Foreign Ministry spokeswoman emphasized. The diplomat pointed out that "such measures are incapable of solving the systemic problems of Western economies which encountered stagnation" due to "the illegal and illegitimate sanctions war unleashed by them."
