December 22 (UPI) -- According to Russia Today (RT), German prosecutors announced a few days ago that they are demanding the seizure of more than 7200 million euros in assets. Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov angrily denounced Germany on the 21st local time, saying that it had "become a thief in the true sense of the word".
Lavrov reportedly said at a press conference on the same day that the United States is instructing the West to find legal loopholes, steal Russian assets around the world, and use these assets to finance Ukraine.
Zavrov angrily rebuked, "They are thieves, we realized this a long time ago." They have always been treacherous when it comes to politics: they break the agreement and try to deceive some people. Now they have become literal thieves. ”
According to Reuters, German prosecutors said on the 20th that they would demand the confiscation of more than 7200 million euros. According to the German side, the confiscation was due to an alleged attempt by the agency to violate EU sanctions imposed in June 2022. The agency tried to withdraw 7200 million euros, but the deal was not successful.
According to Reuters, this is Germany's first attempt to confiscate Russian assets. After the outbreak of the Ukrainian crisis, the German authorities froze Russian assets, but did not attempt to confiscate their funds.
Reuters, citing sources familiar with the matter, said that the institution was Russia's State Settlement Depository (NSD). The institution is a domestic payment institution under the Moscow Exchange, which plays an important role in the Russian financial system and is an important intermediary in the international market.
According to RIA Novosti, since the start of Russia's special military operation, the European Union and the G7 countries have frozen about 300 billion euros of Russia's foreign exchange reserves, of which about 200 billion are in the European Union. Russian Finance Minister Lucianov said in an interview a few days ago that if the EU makes a decision to freeze Russian assets in the EU, Russia will certainly take symmetrical countermeasures.