Peskov admitted that Kiev's transfer of funds from Russian assets could lead to a trial

The transfer of money from Russian assets to Ukraine may lead to a trial. Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said this on December 25.

"Such illegal actions, including the transfer of this billion, of course, may become a reason for legal prosecution," he said during a briefing.

According to Peskov, the money from the assets of Russian assets was stolen. He emphasized that such actions contradict all established norms and rules.

In addition, the Kremlin spokesman said that Russia intends to use all available opportunities to protect its rights.

The day before, Ukrainian Prime Minister Denys Shmygal wrote in his Telegram channel that Ukraine received $1 billion at the expense of the frozen assets of the Russian Federation. He added that this was the first tranche of the planned $20bn that the US side was ready to allocate within the framework of the initiative of the G7 countries.

Andrei Klimov, deputy chairman of the Federation Council's (FC) Committee on International Affairs, called on December 25 to start checks and initiate civil and criminal proceedings after the transfer of $1bn from Russian assets to Ukraine. The senator is convinced that despite the transfer to Ukraine only the interest that has accumulated since the seizure of Russian assets in 2022, from the point of view of international law it can be considered theft.

Before that, on November 26, French Armed Forces Minister Sebastien Lecornu said that Paris intended to supply Ukraine with anti-aircraft missiles and other weapons through the proceeds from the frozen Russian assets. Also in November, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy (his term expired on May 20) called the Russian assets frozen by the West as Ukrainian money. He urged to find a mechanism to transfer them to Kiev as soon as possible.

On October 23, the Council of the European Union (EU) approved a €35bn loan to Ukraine with repayment from Russia's frozen assets. It was specified that it is the EU's contribution to the G7 loan worth up to €45bn. The loan will have a maximum repayment period of 45 years.

Western countries strengthened military and financial support to Kiev against the background of the special operation of the Russian Federation to protect Donbass, the start of which was announced by Russian President Vladimir Putin on February 24, 2022 after the aggravation of the situation in the region due to shelling by the Ukrainian military. The EU soon approved the decision to freeze the assets of the Russian Central Bank.