The Kremlin accused Poland on Monday of "legal tyranny" after Warsaw arrested a Russian archaeologist at the request of Ukraine, Reuters reported.
The Russian Foreign Ministry said that Alexander Butyagin, an employee of the State Hermitage Museum in St. Petersburg, was detained upon his arrival in Warsaw.
The Russian Foreign Ministry stressed that Butyagin, who had been invited to give a series of lectures in several European cities, had been accused by Ukraine of "destruction of cultural heritage" during archaeological excavations on the Crimean peninsula - an accusation that Moscow has dismissed as absurd.
Russia annexed the Crimean peninsula in 2014.
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov condemned Butyagin's detention. "This is absolute legal tyranny," Peskov said. "Of course, we will demand through diplomatic channels the right to protect the interests of our citizen," he added.
Regarding yesterday's Wall Street Journal article, which reported that the US peace plan for Ukraine includes proposals for investments in Russian rare earth elements and energy resources, Peskov said that Moscow is interested in attracting additional foreign investment.
The American publication pointed out that the plans, detailed in the annexes to the peace proposals prepared by the administration of US President Donald Trump and submitted to European partners in recent weeks, also include proposals to restore Russian energy supplies to Europe.
In addition, American companies will invest in strategically important sectors for Russia, such as the extraction of rare earth elements and drilling for crude oil in the Arctic, and American financial and other businesses will gain access to $200 billion of frozen Russian assets, which they will use to projects in Ukraine, the Wall Street Journal reported.
When asked about this, Peskov said that Russia has always been and remains open to foreign investment, but that Moscow will not engage in "megaphone diplomacy" (a confrontational, public style of communication in which countries use loud, often threatening statements through press releases, social networks or speeches to put pressure on their competitors - ed.).
"We are interested in the inflow of foreign investment", Peskov told reporters. "As for plans, we are not engaged in megaphone discussion of any plans, any projects", he stressed.
The Kremlin spokesman declined to comment on the proposals to seize frozen Russian assets worth $200 billion.