Moscow to employ all legal avenues to prevent transfer of assets to Ukraine

In response to the EU’s proposal to use profits from frozen Russian assets to arm Ukraine, Kremlin Spokesman Dmitry Peskov stated that Russia will use all available legal mechanisms and will retaliate if necessary. This follows a suggestion by EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell to provide military assistance to Ukraine using revenues from Russian assets.

“We will use all possible judicial mechanisms, those that are available now and those that will become available in the future,” Peskov said on Thursday. Borrell had proposed using 90 per cent of the profits generated from Russian assets to supply Ukraine with arms via the European Peace Facility.

Peskov also mentioned that Russia will not deliver a mirror response but will choose other measures that align with their own interests. This comes as Western countries have imposed sanctions on Russia since February 2022, freezing both sovereign and private assets, including Russia’s currency reserves to the amount of nearly $300 billion. The situation remains tense as all parties navigate through the complex geopolitics involved.