Russia threatens EU over frozen assets amid summit on financing Ukraine

The Central Bank also claimed it would allegedly "recover damages" from European banks. To do this, Russia plans to use a Russian arbitration court. At the same time, according to its statement, the Russian central bank will include in these "damages" the so-called "unlawful blocking and use of its assets."

Moreover, the "damages" are said to include not only the assets themselves, but also so-called "lost profits." Notably, the Russians issued these threats on the day a summit on financing Ukraine was taking place in Brussels.

At the same time, Moscow does not hide that these threats are aimed at derailing the use of assets to help Ukraine. The central bank itself admitted that it voiced its absurd threats "in connection with attempts by the authorities of the European Union" to carry out what it calls the "illegal seizure and use of assets placed in EU financial institutions."

A little less than a week ago, the Russians had already made a spectacle of themselves. On December 12, the Central Bank of Russia filed a lawsuit with the Moscow Arbitration Court against Euroclear over the frozen assets. The EU said that in this way, Russia is trying to obstruct compensation for the damage inflicted on Ukraine.

In addition, according to media reports, the central bank had previously hysterically threatened the European Union with a "global campaign of retaliation" to recover hundreds of billions of euros if the bloc uses Russia’s frozen assets.

Russia’s hysteria was triggered by the fact that on December 11, the European Union approved a change in rules that simplifies the extension of the freezing of Russian assets. Unanimity on freezing Russia’s assets is no longer the only option, which means that the so-called reparations loan has moved closer to approval.