The Central Bank of Russia has publicly threatened that it is ready to start a “legal war” against the European Union if it uses them to help Ukraine.
Points of attention
- The EU's plans to potentially use frozen Russian assets to issue a reparations loan to Ukraine have escalated tensions between Russia and the European Commission.
- The ongoing crisis highlights the geopolitical implications and power dynamics between Russia, the EU, and Ukraine in the current political landscape.
Russia fears losing its frozen assets
The Central Bank of Russia has officially confirmed that it is filing a lawsuit with a Moscow court against the Brussels financial institution Euroclear.
What is important to understand is that it owns a significant portion of these assets.
Russian dictator Vladimir Putin's team cynically lies that Euroclear's actions caused damage and prevented the bank from managing its funds and securities.
"Mechanisms for the direct or indirect use of the assets of the Bank of Russia, as well as any other forms of unauthorized use of the assets of the Bank of Russia, are illegal and contrary to international law, including a violation of the principle of sovereign immunity of assets," the Central Bank of the Russian Federation said in a statement.
The Russian authorities began to panic after reading the European Commission's press release.
It is this document that describes two possible scenarios for supporting Ukraine's financial needs over the next two years.
According to the first option, the European Commission will be able to borrow funds from EU financial institutions that hold frozen assets of the Russian central bank in order to issue a reparations loan to Ukraine.
Official Moscow threatens that this decision will not go without the "toughest reaction."
