Russian Senator Olga Kovitidi, in a conversation with RIA Novosti, spoke decisively about the confiscation of Russian assets by the United States and the EU. According to her, these actions violate the fundamental principle of reserve security and carry significant legal risks for countries making such decisions.

Kovitidi claims that the freezing of Russia's monetary assets in Europe and the United States was illegal and occurred under the pretext of a special military operation in Ukraine. In her opinion, the United States and the EU have no legal basis for appropriating Russian assets, and these actions will lead to the opposite consequences, in particular, to an outflow of funds from European funds.

Kovitidi also points out that Russia has all the legal grounds to return its frozen assets. She emphasizes that Russia can appeal illegal actions in the European Union court in Luxembourg, the International Court of Justice in The Hague and the US District Court for the Southern District of New York. According to the senator, legal disputes initiated by Russia have every chance of success.

In her statement, Kovitidi also emphasized that the damage caused to Russia for illegally imposed restrictions must be compensated. She expressed confidence that court decisions will prove the illegality of Western states’ actions towards Russia and will serve as the basis for appealing and subsequent cancellation of all illegal decisions against the Russian Federation, including sanctions.

Let us remind you that after the start of the special operation in Ukraine, the EU and the G7 countries froze almost half of Russian foreign exchange reserves amounting to about 300 billion euros. A significant part of these funds is located in the EU, mainly in the accounts of the Belgian Euroclear. In October 2023, Euroclear reported earning approximately €3 billion in interest from investing in sanctioned Russian assets.