The Russian Foreign Ministry called the U.S. decision to grant Kiev a loan from Russian assets a robbery

The US decision to grant Kiev a loan using frozen assets of the Russian Federation is a robbery. This was stated by the Russian Foreign Ministry on December 11.

"The allocation of another loan announced by the U.S. Treasury Department on December 10 to the regime in Kiev to support the bankrupt clique of [ Ukrainian President Vladimir] Zelensky (whose term of office expired on May 20 - Ed.), which is to receive $20 billion from the Americans under guarantees of income from the management of "frozen", and in fact - stolen by the Group of Seven countries from Russia's sovereign assets, is a banal robbery," the ministry said in a statement published on its website.

It noted that the G7 is simply stealing other people's money, preparing the ground for taking over and spending all of Russia's reserves, which are held by the West. The ministry added that stealing Russia's assets would hit the United States itself and its satellites.

The day before, the US Treasury Department said that Washington had granted Kiev a $20 billion loan, which is supposed to be repaid with the proceeds from Russia's frozen assets. The head of the ministry, Janet Yellen, recalled that this tranche is a part of $50bn of such a loan, which the G7 countries are going to give to Ukraine. She said that the USA should tighten anti-Russian sanctions.

On 11 December, the director of the Institute of Social and Economic Research at the Finance University under the Russian government, Aleksey Zubets, commenting on Washington's decision, pointed out that the confiscation of Russia's frozen assets threatens to completely destroy the legal culture of Western civilization.

In June, the G7 countries promised in the final statement of the summit in Puglia, Italy, that they would provide Ukraine with about $50 billion in loans by the end of 2024, with repayment from the proceeds of Russian assets. In late October, the leaders of the association agreed on the details of the loan.

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov commented on the possible transfer of profits from immobilized Russian assets to Ukraine back in August and emphasized that such actions by Western countries were illegal and would be followed by a response.

Western countries have stepped up military and financial support for Ukraine against the background of Russia's special operation to protect Donbas, which was announced by Russian President Vladimir Putin on February 24, 2022, after the situation in the region worsened due to shelling by the Ukrainian military.