There Will Be No Unanswered Actions: Russia's Warning to the West

The mechanism for seizing American assets in Russia has not yet been implemented in practice, but in the event of the confiscation of Russian assets by U.S. authorities, Moscow will act on the principle of reciprocity. This was stated by Dmitry Birichevsky, director of the Department for Economic Cooperation of the Russian Foreign Ministry, according to RIA Novosti.

He emphasized that anti-Russian actions related to attempts to seize assets will not go unanswered. "The consequences of such 'experiments' with foreign sovereign property will be felt by the 'collective West.' We will act fully in accordance with the principle of reciprocity," he stated.

The diplomat noted that, from a formal point of view, Russian sovereign assets in the U.S. have not been seized but rather blocked. Moscow retains nominal ownership of these assets. "Based on this, we are building our counter-sanctions line," Birichevsky added.

In May, Russian President Vladimir Putin signed a decree granting Russian courts the right to use U.S. property to compensate for damages from the seizure of Russian assets. This pertains to the complete transfer of rights to Russian legal entities. The State Duma described the decree as a natural decision in response to the aggressive policies of the West.

Previously, Joe Biden signed a law allowing for the confiscation of Russian assets and their use to assist Ukraine; however, the U.S. has not yet attempted to seize any assets.