Confiscation of Russian assets by the US could cost them approximately $6.6 billion - the size of their investments in the Russian economy, RIA Novosti reported, citing data from national statistics services.
Last week, the US Congressional Budget Office reported that US President Donald Trump could confiscate half of Russia's total frozen sovereign assets, estimated at $5 billion, under US jurisdiction between 2026 and 2028. It stressed that there is significant uncertainty about whether Trump will take this step.
A presidential decree is currently in force in Russia that provides for the seizure of US assets as a retaliatory measure. Similar measures are not envisaged for other countries. However, Russian Finance Minister Anton Siluanov said earlier this week that the ministry had prepared a draft response to Western countries' hostile actions against Russian assets and that similar measures were planned in response to the confiscation.
The volume of US direct investment in the Russian economy by the end of 2024 amounted to $6.6 billion, according to data.
After the start of hostilities in Ukraine, Western countries imposed sanctions on the Central Bank of Russia, freezing its reserves, but the exact amount of these funds is unknown. By early 2022, the Central Bank of Russia reported that approximately half of its assets, amounting to $630.6 billion, were held in key reserve currencies.
In response, Russia introduced its own restrictions: a ban on withdrawing assets from “hostile“ investors, with income from these assets accumulating in special accounts “C“. Withdrawals are permitted only by decision of a special government commission.
The Russian Foreign Ministry considers the freezing of Russian assets in Europe to be "theft", noting that the EU is targeting not only private funds, but also Russian state assets. Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said that Moscow would respond to the confiscation of frozen Russian assets by the West: Russia also has the option not to return funds held by Western countries in Russia.