Moscow has strongly condemned the US Department of the Treasury’s decision to issue a $20 billion loan to Ukraine, calling it an act of “common robbery” and accusing the G7 countries of unlawfully seizing Russian sovereign assets. The loan, announced on December 10, is set to be repaid with proceeds from Russian assets that have been “immobilized” in the West, which Russia claims have been illegally appropriated.
The Russian Foreign Ministry issued a scathing statement, labeling the actions of the US and its allies as “the unlawful seizure of personal property by an organised group of persons by prior agreement.” It described the transfer of Russian assets to the G7 countries as a prelude to a larger strategy to take control of all Russian sovereign wealth stored in the West.
The statement also emphasized the global implications of the move, particularly the destabilization of the US-controlled financial system, which relies on the dollar as the global reserve currency. Russia warned that this could undermine the dollar’s position in international trade and finance, signaling the potential for a major shift in global economic power.
“The fiercely Russophobic Biden administration is trying to impose as many anti-Russia sanctions as possible before it transfers power to Donald Trump on January 20, 2025,” the statement read, adding that the US is disregarding its own rising debt, financial instability, and the economic challenges that led to the Democrats’ defeat in the November elections.
Moscow asserted that the G7’s efforts to weaken Russia would ultimately fail, pointing to the ongoing success of Russia’s military operations in Ukraine. The statement further vowed that Russia would respond to these actions by taking measures to seize Western assets within its jurisdiction, which could be redirected towards domestic infrastructure and industrial development.
The Russian Foreign Ministry warned that the theft of Russian assets would backfire, further destabilizing the “rules-based world order” controlled by the US and its allies, and asserted that such actions would only accelerate the decline of the Western-dominated financial system.
