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| United States President Joe Biden And Russian President Vladimir Putin |
Moscow - Russia has threatened to completely end bilateral relations with the United States (US) if Moscow's assets are seized by Washington. This threat was made by Alexander Darchiev, Head of the North America Department at the Russian Foreign Ministry, on Saturday (13/8/2022).
Russia's relations with Western countries, especially the US, have deteriorated sharply since Moscow deployed tens of thousands of troops to Ukraine on February 24, calling it a "special military operation."
The West responded to the invasion by imposing unprecedented economic, financial and diplomatic sanctions, including freezing about half of Russia's near $640 billion gold and foreign exchange reserves by February 24.
High-ranking Western officials, including the EU's foreign policy chief Josep Borrell, have suggested the seizure of frozen reserves to help fund Ukraine's future reconstruction. "We warn the Americans of the detrimental consequences of such an act that will permanently damage bilateral relations, which are neither in their interests nor ours," Darchiev told the TASS news agency in an interview.
It is not clear which assets Darchiev was referring to. According to President Joe Biden's government, the United States and its European allies have frozen $30 billion worth of assets held by wealthy individuals with ties to Russian President Vladimir Putin.
Those assets include yachts, helicopters, real estate and artwork. The US Justice Department is seeking broader authority from Congress to seize the assets of the Russian oligarchs as a means to pressure Moscow over its actions in Ukraine.
Darchiev also said that Russia warned the United States that diplomatic relations would be seriously damaged and could even be severed if Russia was declared a state sponsor of terrorism.
Speaking about the situation in Ukraine, Darchiev said that US influence in Kiev has increased to a level where America is increasingly becoming a direct party to the conflict.
Darchiev confirmed that Viktor Bout, an imprisoned Russian citizen, described by American prosecutors as one of the world's most prolific arms dealers, as well as US basketball star Brittney Griner and former Marine Paul Whelan who were detained by Russia were being discussed in prisoner swap talks between Russia and Russia. Moscow and Washington.