JAKARTA - Russian Foreign Ministry spokesman Maria Zakharova warned on Wednesday that the country has "a large amount" of Western assets and property in its territory that Moscow could target retaliation if the West confiscates revenue from Russian assets to Ukraine.
The leaders of the Group of Seven (G7) countries agreed to use interest from Russian assets frozen in the West to lend 50 billion US dollars to Ukraine, at a summit in Italy last week.
Russia says the action is illegal and will turn against the West by undermining trust in the global financial system.
"Our country has a large amount of Western funds and property under Russian jurisdiction. All of this may be the target of Russia's retaliatory policy and retaliation," Zakharova told reporters.
"Of course, no one will reveal the nature of this retaliatory act to you. However, the warehouse for political and economic countermeasures is very broad," he said.
Economists, lawyers and experts say one of Russia's most likely actions is confiscation of financial assets and securities belonging to foreign investors currently stored in a special "type-C" account, whose access has been blocked since the start of the war unless Moscow provides relief.
Previously, about 260 billion euros ($281 billion) in Russian assets such as central bank reserves had been frozen based on sanctions imposed on the Moscow war in Ukraine. About 190 billion euros of these assets were kept in Euroclear, a Belgian-based central securities storage agency.
EU officials told Reuters last week the bloc might provide about half of Ukraine with a $50 billion loan.
However, Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni, hosts the G7 summit, later said the money would come from the United States, Canada, Britain and possibly Japan, that EU countries would not engage directly for now.
Zakharova said Russia had received "direct signals" from several G7 countries, they would not take part in the action "because they understand the cost will be very painful".
However, he did not name the country or provide further details to support the statement.
Earlier, President Vladimir Putin last Friday said the planned Western country to lend to Ukraine using interest from frozen Russian assets abroad was theft and would not escape punishment.
"Despite all the tactics, theft will remain a theft. And it will not escape punishment," said President Putin.
"Now it is clear to all countries, companies (and) government funds, that their assets and reserves are far from safe in the sense of law and economy," he explained.
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"Anyone could be the next target to be taken over by the US and the West," President Putin said.
President Putin spoke a day after the leaders of the Group of Seven (G7), major democracies, approved a outline agreement to provide a $50 billion loan to Ukraine.
The loan used interest from Russian state assets that were frozen after Moscow shipped tens of thousands of troops to Ukraine by 2022, which it described as a special military operation.
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