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Senior lawmaker threatens US with retaliation for 'stealing' Russian assets

"Now, our country has every reason to make symmetrical decisions against foreign assets," Vyacheslav Volodin said

MOSCOW, April 22. /TASS/. State Duma Speaker Vyacheslav Volodin believes Russia has every reason to take response actions against foreign assets as he criticized Washington’s decision to seize frozen Russian assets as unlawful.

"Washington made an overtly unlawful decision to steal [the assets]. This will certainly undermine the confidence of other countries, businesses and private investors in the United States. And the principle of the inviolability of property on which the global financial system is based will be destroyed," the senior Russian lawmaker wrote on his Telegram channel. Also, he warned, the decision will do "irreparable damage to international law by setting a precedent that enables any country to take a similar action."

"Now, our country has every reason to make symmetrical decisions against foreign assets," Volodin said.

According to him, the United States is seeking to provoke the European Union to take a similar step which would destroy the European economy. Of the $280 bln Russian assets immobilized globally, Volodin argued, around $5 bln to $6 bln is held in the United States, "while the bulk of assets, worth 210 bln euros, is frozen in the European Union," he concluded.

On Saturday, the US House of Representatives adopted a package of bills on $95bln worth of military aid for Ukraine, Israel and Taiwan, the seizure of frozen Russian assets in order to give them to Kiev, and additional sanctions on China. In particular, the package includes $60 billion for Kiev and $26 billion for Israel as well as humanitarian aid for civilians in the conflict zones, including the Gaza Strip. US President Joe Biden has already promised to sign off on these bills.

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