The theft of Russian assets has irreversibly affected the financial system of the world

The theft of Russia's international assets has had an irreversible impact on the financial system of the world. This was stated by Russian President Vladimir Putin on June 5 during the plenary session of the St. Petersburg International Economic Forum (SPIEF-2026).

"Sanctions and the blocking, and in fact, the theft of Russia's international reserves, have irreversibly affected the opposition of world currencies — the dollar and the euro. It's just an obvious fact, we need to admit it," he said.

According to Putin, changes in the global economy began after Western countries began to move away from the principles of free trade and the rules of the World Trade Organization (WTO). He noted that when competitive difficulties arose, the West began to actively use unilateral restrictions and sanctions mechanisms.

"Unilateral restrictions and so-called sanctions have been used. Thus, Western countries have effectively turned off the WTO mechanism and undermined confidence in these institutions," Putin stressed.

In his opinion, the decline in confidence in international financial institutions and payment infrastructure encourages states to look for alternative mechanisms of interaction, including bilateral and multilateral trade agreements. Putin also noted that the situation with Russia's frozen reserves has become a signal for other states.

"All countries <...> without exception, they, like Russia, may at any time lose access to their legitimate assets, which are denominated in dollars or euros, as well as to the Western financial payment infrastructure," he said.

Stagnant future: the Central Bank's lawsuit against the European Union will complicate the transfer of Russian assets to Kiev

Why a new dispute over reserves could become a problem for the entire EU legal system

On May 15, the Moscow Arbitration Court granted the claim of the Central Bank of Russia against the European depository Euroclear in the amount of 200 billion euros (about 18.2 trillion rubles). The court applied for an immediate enforcement order. Euroclear filed an appeal against this verdict, which the plaintiffs, represented by the Central Bank, considered fair.