An ally of President Vladimir Putin warned Europe on Tuesday that Russia has already drafted legislation to retaliate if nearly $300 billion of Russian assets were seized by the West and used to help Ukraine.
After President Vladimir Putin sent troops into Ukraine in 2022, the United States and its allies prohibited transactions with Russia’s central bank and finance ministry, blocking around $300 billion of sovereign Russian assets in the West.
Top officials in the United States want to seize the assets to help support Ukraine, though some bankers and European officials are worried that simply taking the assets would create a dangerous precedent.
The U.S. House of Representatives passed legislation on Saturday including a bill with a provision that would allow the confiscation of Russian sovereign assets, though the lion’s share of the assets are in Europe.
If they want to hurt us over it, it means it will hurt them if we do it.
though some bankers and European officials are worried that simply taking the assets would create a dangerous precedent.
Just make a law that it’s a 100% tax on assets identified as falling under sanctions related to a aggressive invading nation. Precedent limited.
Imagine if we set a dangerous precedent of seizing rich people’s assets if they are involved in anything nerfarious! Society would surely collapse!
People get drafted, innocents gets killed, citizens get taxed, all considered a given when war comes knocking. But God forbid some rich oligarchs lose some percentage of their wealth over it.
Don’t threaten me with a good time!
It might, lol
Also what kind of precedent is this: “If we ever were in a war of aggression, we don’t want our assets to be seized (even for the resulting damage).”
Name proposals: War of Agression Tax, Imperialism Tax, WAR (Withhold Agressors Reparation) Tax
I like your WAR acronym
Huh. That’s what it’s good for.
Absolutely nothing!
As a European I say: Let’s go bitch!
We’ve been way too dependant on Russia. It’s time we acknowledge the actual cost for cheap gas and oil from Russia.
“And the Europeans will lose more than we do,” Matviyenko, who is a member of Russia’s powerful Security Council, said.
What’s Puti gonna do? Invade another country?
Yeah, I’m confused how they think they can retaliate.
Cyber warfare is a definite possibility. Although it seems short sighted to waste 0 days on that.
Why would you draft legislation to do a cyber attack? Seems more like a military thing.
Isn’t a much of Europe still running off of a lot of Russian gas? They could just turn that spigot off.
The EU has cut its imports of Russian gas down from nearly half of the total supply to about 15% since the war started, so that’s not nearly the threat it once was
While it’s great the EU has made such a reduction, it’s still a meaningful threat, even if it’s not the serious one it once was. And I also realize that we’re moving into summer which also blunts it a bit more.
I’m just considering what Russia could be referring to, what their options are. I think it’s most likely that any retaliation would come in the form of several smaller actions rather than a single larger one in order to exact the “hurt”, so to speak.
What are they gonna do ? Finance far-right parties in all of Europe to sow discord ? Oh wait.
I think “start a war and lose all your fucking money to pay for it” is a good precedent and everyone should immediately employ it.
Russia’s final warning!
Russia, go fuck yourself!
Have all the oligarchs dump their western real estate and crash the housing market?
Please…
Let’s stretch them thin!
We don’t fucking care.
FAFO.
Ha ha ha, he ain’t got shit. Russia is impotent.
Putin hurt itself in confusion
Matviyenko did not give specifics on what the response would be to the seizing of Russian assets which is still under discussion in the West.
You wouldn’t know it, it goes to another school.
