Moscow could seize private US assets in Russia if US seizes its frozen reserves, says Putin ally

MOSCOW (Reuters) – Russia could respond to any U.S. confiscation of its frozen foreign exchange reserves in the West by seizing assets, including property and cash, of U.S. citizens and investors in Russia. Dmitry Medvedeva senior security official said on Saturday.

The US House of Representatives has passed a bill authorizing the Biden administration to confiscate Russian assets held in US banks and transfer them to Ukraine, which the Kremlin says would be illegal and trigger retaliation.

In response to Russia’s war in Ukraine, the United States and its allies banned transactions with the Russian central bank and Finance Ministry and blocked approximately $300 billion in Russian sovereign assets in the West, most of which found in European and non-American financial institutions.

The Group of Seven Democracies (G7) is also studying what it could do about the freezing of Russian assets.

Medvedev, a close ally of President Vladimir Putin and vice chairman of the Russian Security Council, said on Saturday that Russia would not be able to retaliate in the same way against a possible American seizure of its reserves.

“The reason is clear: we do not own a significant amount of US government assets, including US money, rights and other assets. Therefore, the response can only be asymmetrical. This “It’s not a fact that it will be less painful,” he added. Medvedev wrote on his official Telegram channel.

“We are talking about the seizure, for example, by a court decision, of property of individuals located within the jurisdiction of Russia (money, real estate and movable property in kind, property rights).”

“Yes, it is a complex story, since these individuals generally acted as investors in the Russian economy,” Medvedev said. “And we guaranteed them the inviolability of their private property rights. But the unexpected happened: their state declared hybrid war on us. We must respond.”

He said Russian law should be changed to allow such seizures of assets in favor of the Russian state.

Russian Central Bank Governor Elvira Nabiullina said Friday that Moscow would defend its legitimate interests in the event of confiscation of its assets, but did not disclose the strategy and tactics.

(Reporting by Elena Fabrichnaya, writing by Maxim Rodionov, editing by Andrew Osborn and Timothy Heritage)