The Foreign Ministry called Estonia's decision on Russian assets "robbery"

The decision of the Estonian parliament, which supported the seizure of Russian assets frozen in the country in favor of Ukraine, is “blatant robbery”, violating the provisions of international law. This is stated in the commentary of the official representative of the Russian Foreign Ministry Maria Zakharova.

According to her, Tallinn’s illegal actions to seize Russian property constitute “another hostile demarche” and “outright robbery.” She also noted that if this legislative initiative comes into force, a historical precedent will arise: “one of the centuries-old foundations of the existence of Western society” - the principle of the inviolability of private property - will be destroyed.

“The hostile actions of the Baltic states towards our country are not something new; it is difficult to surprise us with them. Moreover, as a rule, Western puppeteers use the Baltic states as a “testing ground” for testing the soil for various kinds of anti-Russian ideas,” added Zakharova , promising a mirror response to any illegal initiatives.

After Russia launched a military operation in Ukraine, the European Union and the G7 countries froze about $280 billion of Russian assets - these are funds and securities of the Russian Central Bank. Over two thirds of them were frozen by the European Union. The Russian Ministry of Finance estimated this amount at approximately $300 billion in 2022. Estonia previously reported freezing about €30 million of Russian assets.

The Estonian Parliament passed a law allowing Kiev to use these funds on May 15. The law was supported by 65 members of parliament, three voted against. According to the chairman of the constitutional commission of the parliament, Hendrik Johannes Terras, developing legal norms for the use of frozen assets is a complex task; representatives of several countries and international organizations are working on it. Estonia, he noted, is playing the role of an innovator in this.

Moscow condemns Western  sanctions . The Kremlin noted that the confiscation of Russian assets would be “a solid nail in the future coffin of the entire Western economic coordinate system,” as well as “the subject of some retaliatory actions and the subject of legal proceedings.” According to Federation Council Speaker Valentina Matvienko, Russia has a “prepared answer.”