Russia will retaliate against any "unfriendly" European nation that uses frozen Russian assets to fund Ukraine by seizing an even larger amount of those countries' assets, said Vyacheslav Volodin, the chairman of Russia's State Duma.
"A number of European politicians, led by the head of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen ... again started talking about the theft of the frozen funds of our country, so that at their expense the militarization of Kyiv will continue," Volodin, a key ally of Russian President Vladimir Putin, said in a note on his Telegram account Sunday.
He warned that such a move "will require a symmetrical response from the Russian Federation. In this case, much larger assets belonging to unfriendly countries will be confiscated than our funds frozen on the territory of Europe."
The threat comes after European Union leaders at last week's European Council summit called on the European Council to come up with proposals to help pay for the reconstruction of Ukraine with the hundreds of billions of dollars in seized Russian assets.
"Decisive progress is needed, in coordination with partners, on how any extraordinary revenues held by private entities stemming directly from Russia’s immobilised assets could be directed to support Ukraine and its recovery and reconstruction, consistent with applicable contractual obligations, and in accordance with EU and international law," the leaders said.
The leaders called on "the High Representative and the Commission to accelerate work with a view to submitting proposals."
Earlier this month, Belgian Prime Minister Alexander De Croo said his country will create a $1.8 billion fund for Ukraine using tax on profits generated by Russian assets frozen after the start of the war.
The announcement was an early step in the legally and politically complicated issue of what to do with the approximately $300 billion in Russian assets frozen last year by Western sanctions for the full-scale invasion of Ukraine. Some $200 billion of that is held in European nations.
