Russia issued one of its starkest warnings yet on Thursday, saying it could treat any European Union move to seize its frozen assets as a “casus belli,” or justification for war.
In a statement on the Russian platform MAX, Dmitry Medvedev — former Russian president and now deputy secretary of the Security Council — warned that the EU’s attempt to “steal Russian assets blocked in Belgium” under a reparations mechanism would cross a red line.
He said such a move could amount to “a special kind of casus belli,” with “all the ensuing consequences for Brussels and individual EU countries.”
Medvedev added that in such a scenario, any “return” of the funds would not happen through legal channels, but “through actual reparations, paid in kind by the defeated enemies of Russia.”
Belgium opposes the proposed move
His comments come as the European Commission and several member states push to use immobilised Russian central bank assets to provide Ukraine with a $162 billion loan to avert a looming fiscal crisis.
The largest share of frozen Russian funds sits with Belgium—around €194 billion ($226 billion) as of June—while additional holdings are in Japan, the US, UK, and Canada.
Belgium has expressed concern that Euroclear, the Brussels-based clearing house holding most of the assets, could face lawsuits or reputational damage if the EU moves forward and Russia challenges the decision.
