Moscow slams 'treacherous' Japanese loan to Ukraine using frozen Russian assets

Spokeswoman of Russian Foreign Ministry Maria Zakharova attends a press conference held by Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov on the sidelines of a meeting of foreign ministers of the BRICS group of nations in the city of Nizhny Novgorod, Russia June 11, 2024. REUTERS/Maxim Shemetov/File Photo

MOSCOW (Reuters) -Russia on Thursday sharply criticised plans by Japan to use profits from frozen Russian assets to provide a $3 billion loan to Ukraine, saying such a move was treacherous and would amount to complicity in theft.

The Japanese loan will inevitably hurt Moscow-Tokyo relations, Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said.

(Reporting by Reuters; Writing by Lucy Papachristou; Editing by Mark Trevelyan)