Russia's Medvedev says EU seizure of frozen assets could be tantamount to justification for war

Russia's Security Council's Deputy Chairman Dmitry Medvedev attends a meeting of the Council for Science and Education at the Joint Institute for Nuclear Research in the Moscow region's city of Dubna, Russia June 13, 2024. Sputnik/Alexei Maishev/Pool via REUTERS

MOSCOW, Dec 4 (Reuters) - Dmitry Medvedev, the deputy chairman of Russia's Security Council, said on Thursday that if the European Union takes frozen Russian assets, then it may be considered by Moscow as tantamount to an act justifying war.

"If the crazy European Union does, after all, try to steal Russian assets frozen in Belgium under the guise of a so-called ‘reparations loan’, Russia may well view this move as tantamount to a casus belli with all the relevant implications for Brussels and individual EU countries," Medvedev said.

The European Commission proposed on Wednesday an unprecedented use of frozen Russian assets or international borrowing to raise 90 billion euros ($105 billion) for Ukraine to cover its struggling military and basic services.

(Reporting by Reuters, Writing by Felix Light; editing by Guy Faulconbridge)