Russia warns Europe: we will go after any state which takes our assets

FILE PHOTO: Russian service members attend a ceremony to receive new vehicles and military equipment handed over by the Russian movement "People's Front" for the military involved in Russia-Ukraine conflict, in Rostov-on-Don, Russia February 23, 2025. REUTERS/Stringer/ FILE Photo

MOSCOW (Reuters) - Russia on Monday warned it would go after any European state that sought to take its assets after reports that the European Union is looking for new ways to leverage hundreds of billions of dollars of frozen Russian assets to help Ukraine.

The U.S. and its allies prohibited transactions with the Russian central bank and finance ministry after President Vladimir Putin sent his army into Ukraine in 2022, and blocked $300-$350 billion of sovereign Russian assets, mostly European, U.S. and British government bonds held in a European securities depository.