Putin Signs Decree Allowing Seizure of US Assets If Russian Funds Are Taken

Russian President Vladimir Putin signed a decree on Thursday that will allow the seizure of any US assets in Russia to compensate for any Russian assets that are taken by the US.

The decree could be applied to any American individuals or companies that have assets in Russia, and it came after President Biden signed a bill into law that gave him the power to confiscate Russian assets and use them to pay for aid to Ukraine.

After Russia invaded Ukraine, the US and its allies froze about $300 billion in Russian Central Bank assets. According to The Associated Press, there are about $5 billion in Russian state assets that the US could confiscate to send to Ukraine.

Putin’s decree would allow the Russian central bank or any companies that lost assets in the US to apply to Russian courts “with a claim to establish the fact of unjustified deprivation of his rights to property due to a decision by a US state or judicial authority and to receive compensation for said damage.”

The US isn’t expected to go ahead with the plan to steal the Russian money unless its allies agree to do so as well since over $200 billion of the Russian Central Bank assets are frozen in Europe.

The EU is planning to give Ukraine about $3 billion per year using profits made by Russian assets, and Russia is warning it would retaliate to that move as well. Ukraine has said the $3 billion per year amounts to “almost nothing” and is demanding the West hand over all the Russian assets.

Stealing Russia’s assets would be an unprecedented move and would mark a significant escalation in the economic war against Moscow. Banks are warning that it could undermine trust in the Western banking system.