Putin on West's 'theft' of Russia's assets will not go unpunished. Putin also said the country would cease fire and enter peace talks if Ukraine dropped its NATO ambitions.
MOSCOW: Russian President Vladimir Putin said on Friday (Jun 14) that plans by Western countries to provide Ukraine with loans using interest from Russian assets frozen abroad was theft and would not go unpunished.
Putin, speaking at a meeting with Foreign Ministry officials, said the way the West had treated Moscow showed that any country could fall victim to a similar Western asset freeze.
"Despite all the chicanery, theft will certainly remain theft. And it will not go unpunished".
"Now it is becoming obvious to all countries, companies (and) sovereign funds that their assets and reserves are far from safe in both the legal and economic sense of the word. "Anyone could be next in line for expropriation by the US and the West." Putin was speaking a day after the leaders of the Group of Seven major democracies agreed on an outline deal to provide US$50 billion of loans for Ukraine using interest from Russian sovereign assets frozen after Moscow sent tens of thousands of troops into Ukraine in 2022 in what it called a special military operation.
"We live on the same continent. No matter what happens, you cannot change the geography, we will have to coexist and work together one way or another."
UKRAINE PEACE TALKS
Putin if Ukraine dropped its NATO ambitions and withdrew its forces from four Ukrainian regions claimed by Moscow.
Putin ready to guarantee the safe withdrawal of Ukrainian units in order to enable this to happen.
Russia wanted nearly a fifth ir 20,% of Ukrainian territory. Ukraine wanted no peace and demand be based on a full withdrawal of Russian forces and restoration of its territorial integrity.