A close ally of Russian President Vladimir Putin warned Tuesday that Russia is ready to retaliate if almost $300 billion of frozen Russian assets are seized by the West and used to assist Ukraine.
“The Europeans know that there will be a very tough response on our part, and an adequate response,” Valentina Matviyenko, the speaker of the Russian upper house of parliament, told state news agency RIA Novosti.
Matviyenko, a member of Russia’s Security Council, said in an interview that a draft law on response measures had already been prepared. She did not specify what the retaliatory measures would be but said Europe “will lose more than we do.”
Western officials are not fully decided on the controversial proposal to seize frozen Russian assets abroad, the majority of which — around $224 billion — are in the European Union, a Russian parliamentarian noted on Monday that, only $5 to $6 billion worth of assets were in the U.S.
Ukraine has disputed Russia’s claim to have seized a second eastern Ukrainian village in as many days on Monday.
Russia’s Defense Ministry claimed Monday that its forces had taken control of the village of Novomykhailivka, around 25 miles southwest of the city of Donetsk, but a Ukrainian official rejected the claim, saying Ukraine still held the settlement and was still fighting to hold on to it.
Russia claimed on Sunday that it had seized Bohdanivka, northeast of Chasiv Yar, another near-term target.
Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu said his forces will look to target storage bases containing Western weapons given to Ukraine.
“We will increase the intensity of attacks on logistics centers and storage bases for Western weapons,” Shoigu said at a meeting of senior ministry officials Tuesday.
“The Russian Armed Forces will continue to carry out assigned tasks until the objectives of the special operation are fully achieved,” he added. Despite more than two years of war with Ukraine, Russia continues to characterize its invasion of Ukraine as a “special military operation.”