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Kremlin Pledges Legal Action over Planned EU Transfer to Ukraine of Interest Accrued on Frozen Assets

A Yars intercontinental ballistic missile system drives out of a military shelter during, what Russia's Defense Ministry called, planned exercises of the Strategic Missile Forces in the Irkutsk region, Russia, in this still image from video released July 23, 2024. Russian Defense Ministry/Handout/Reuters
A Yars intercontinental ballistic missile system drives out of a military shelter during, what Russia's Defense Ministry called, planned exercises of the Strategic Missile Forces in the Irkutsk region, Russia, in this still image from video released July 23, 2024. Russian Defense Ministry/Handout/Reuters
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Kremlin Pledges Legal Action over Planned EU Transfer to Ukraine of Interest Accrued on Frozen Assets

A Yars intercontinental ballistic missile system drives out of a military shelter during, what Russia's Defense Ministry called, planned exercises of the Strategic Missile Forces in the Irkutsk region, Russia, in this still image from video released July 23, 2024. Russian Defense Ministry/Handout/Reuters
A Yars intercontinental ballistic missile system drives out of a military shelter during, what Russia's Defense Ministry called, planned exercises of the Strategic Missile Forces in the Irkutsk region, Russia, in this still image from video released July 23, 2024. Russian Defense Ministry/Handout/Reuters

The Kremlin on Tuesday called a European Union plan to use interest earned on frozen Russian assets to fund military aid to Ukraine "theft" and said it would take legal action against anyone involved in the decision.

The EU's top diplomat, Josep Borrell, on Monday said that the first tranche of 1.4 billion euros in military aid for Ukraine taken from proceeds earned on frozen Russian assets would be made in early August, Reuters reported.

"Such thievish actions cannot remain without reciprocity," Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters. "This money is not only essentially stolen, but will also be spent on the purchase of weapons."

"Definitely, we will work out the possible legal prosecution of those people who are involved in decision-making and the implementation of these decisions, because this is a direct violation of international law, it is a violation of property rights."

After President Vladimir Putin sent troops into Ukraine in 2022, the United States and its allies prohibited transactions with Russia's central bank and finance ministry, blocking around $300 billion of sovereign Russian assets in the West.

European Union countries are taking the interest earned on those frozen assets - essentially bonds and other types of securities in which the Russian central bank had invested - and putting them into an EU fund which will be used to help Ukraine.

15-20 billion euros

($16-$22 billion) in profits by 2027.

Putin says the West unleashed what he casts as an economic war against Russia but has touted both the resilience of the Russian economy, which grew 3.6% last year, and the failure of sanctions of stop Russian trade.

The Kremlin has repeatedly said that any seizure of its assets would go against all the principles of free markets which the West proclaims and that it would undermine confidence in the US dollar and euro while deterring global investment and undermining confidence in Western central banks.

The Russian Foreign Ministry on Tuesday said Moscow would have a tough response to Europe's use of any revenues from Russian assets, the state-run RIA news agency reported.

 

 

 

 

 

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Afghans Both Hopeful, Disappointed after Russia's Taliban Recognition

A man talks by a phone while standing on a balcony of the Afghan Embassy in Moscow, Russia, Friday, July 4, 2025, after Russia recognized the Taliban government in Afghanistan. (AP Photo/Pavel Bednyakov)
A man talks by a phone while standing on a balcony of the Afghan Embassy in Moscow, Russia, Friday, July 4, 2025, after Russia recognized the Taliban government in Afghanistan. (AP Photo/Pavel Bednyakov)
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Afghans Both Hopeful, Disappointed after Russia's Taliban Recognition

A man talks by a phone while standing on a balcony of the Afghan Embassy in Moscow, Russia, Friday, July 4, 2025, after Russia recognized the Taliban government in Afghanistan. (AP Photo/Pavel Bednyakov)
A man talks by a phone while standing on a balcony of the Afghan Embassy in Moscow, Russia, Friday, July 4, 2025, after Russia recognized the Taliban government in Afghanistan. (AP Photo/Pavel Bednyakov)

Russia's decision to formally recognize the Taliban government has been seen as an opening for a stronger economy by some Afghans, while others were skeptical that it would improve their lot.

Russia became the first country to acknowledge the Taliban authorities on Thursday, after a gradual building of ties that included removing their "terrorist organization" designation and accepting an ambassador in recent months.

The Taliban authorities had not been recognized by any state in the nearly four years since sweeping to power in 2021, ousting the foreign-backed government as US-led troops withdrew after a two-decade war.

Afghanistan is one of the poorest countries in the world and in a fragile recovery from four decades of conflict.

"With the current situation in Afghanistan, with all the challenges, everyone is worried. If the world recognizes Afghanistan, we will be happy, currently, even the tiniest thing matters," Gul Mohammad, 58, said on Friday in the capital Kabul.

Despite having bitter memories of the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan in 1979, when he "lost everything" and became a refugee in Pakistan, he acknowledges that "the priorities are different now".

Jamaluddin Sayar, 67, predicted that "trade and economic prosperity will now blossom".

The retired pilot said other countries, "both western and eastern", should recognize the government and "stop spreading propaganda".

- Won't 'lead to anything' -

Russian and Afghan officials praised the move as an opening for deeper cooperation, notably in economic and security arenas.

Security concerns have been a key avenue for coordination between the Taliban authorities and the international community, amid fears Afghanistan would become fertile ground for increased militant activity.

The authorities have prioritized security and made repeated assurances that Afghan soil would not be used by any group to plan attacks on other nations.

However, Pakistan's ties with the Taliban authorities have been strained over a surge in militant activity since their takeover and last year, an attack claimed by the ISIS group's branch in Afghanistan killed 137 people in a Moscow concert hall.

In a country where dissent and protest is tightly controlled, some Kabul residents were afraid to openly criticize the Taliban authorities.

Atef, not his real name, was unconvinced better relations between Afghanistan and Russia would improve the livelihoods of ordinary Afghans.

"I think Afghanistan will fall into the traps of the Russians again, the issues and challenges will increase, and there is nothing that can help ordinary people," the unemployed 25-year-old said.

"People are struggling, and they will still struggle with or without the recognition."

For Afghan women's rights activists, particularly those who have advocated for isolating the Taliban government, the recognition was seen as a setback that "legitimizes" restrictions on women.

The Taliban authorities, who also ruled the country between 1996 and 2001, have again imposed an austere version of their own interpretation of Islamic law.

Norway-based Afghan women's rights activist Hoda Khamosh was defiant against the impact of the Russian move.

"Human rights organizations right now are trying to recognize gender apartheid in Afghanistan because the Taliban are a repressive regime against women," she said.

"Therefore, these recognitions will not lead to anything."