ST. PETERSBURG. June 27 (Interfax) - Russia's response to the United States to the seizure of Russian assets will be a painful blow, Russian Security Council Deputy Chairman Dmitry Medvedev said.
"As you know, the Russian president issued a decree last month on seizing assets belonging to the U.S. and individuals pandering to it. Legislative amendments enforcing it will be adopted shortly," Medvedev said at the St. Petersburg International Legal Forum.
Medvedev did not specify the size of the assets, saying only that they are well-known. "But this is a substantial amount, and there's going to be quite an unpleasant and painful blow. At the same time, I'd like to assure you that the rights of good-faith foreign investors in the Russian economy won't be breached; I am talking only about a reciprocal application of these repressive measures," he said.
For the time being, this measure is supposed to serve merely as a warning for other countries "that might wish to follow America's bad example [...] that losses can be avoided, and therefore, Russia's sovereign assets must be unblocked and returned to our state," he said.
The U.S. has repeatedly resorted to unlawfully seizing assets belonging to other countries, Medvedev said. He called on the international community to stand up against the blatant violation of international law and stay away from backing and recognizing such illegal deeds so as to avoid being accused of complicity in the future.
"The most effective mechanism would be withdrawing all state assets from American jurisdiction and structuring transactions without using the U.S. dollar," he said.