Russian embassy in US slams US for wiring frozen assets to Kiev

By Al Mayadeen English
Source: Agencies
4 Feb 2023 23:05
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A report published by CNN on Friday revealed that the US had wired $5 billion in seized assets of Konstantin Malofeev to Ukraine.

Konstantin Malofeyev speaks during an interview with Reuters in Moscow on September 16, 2021 (Reuters)

The Russian embassy in the US slammed the US government on Saturday for transferring the confiscated assets of Russian citizen Konstantin Malofeev to Ukraine.

"An egregious precedent has been set. Using different legal tricks and manipulations, local authorities committed an outright theft of someone else's property for the sake of opportunistic interests," the embassy wrote on Telegram.

A report published by CNN on Friday revealed that the US had wired $5 billion in seized assets of Malofeev to Ukraine.

This marked the first-ever instance where confiscated assets of sanctioned Russian individuals were transferred to Ukraine.

The Russian embassy noted that through such an action, the US had undermined the most basic principle of the inviolability of private property.

It further said that the move had severely damaged the US' reputation in handling foreign investors' assets as it sent a clear message about the absence of security measures that would guarantee the legal protection of foreign investments.

In November of last year, former Lehman Brothers executive Lawrence McDonald told Sputnik that the US' efforts to isolate Russia through sanctions appear to be pulling nations closer to forming a bloc.

When McDonald asked whether the US' anti-Russia sanctions were effective, he said "Russia is going around them through a lot of different avenues, like through China," adding that "The BRICS [Brazil, Russia, India, China, and South Africa] are essentially forming this - look at the way the Saudis and the Russians are cooperating - the BRICS are forming like an alliance around the United States. Very dangerous moves the United States makes, they're pushing these countries together as a bloc."

The former executive noted that Russia's central bank was proactive and prepared to respond to all possible US sanctions against Russia and its people.