Expropriation of assets to shock global economy — Kremlin

 Expropriation of the property of others threatens the world economy with serious consequences, Kremlin Spokesman Dmitry Peskov said.

"We reiterated that making decisions to expropriate the property of others will in some or other way have the most serious effects on the global economy, on economic development prospects and the investment climate," Peskov said, commenting on West’s plans to confiscate Russian assets.

The expropriation of assets "can seriously shatter all the pillars of the global economy," the Kremlin Spokesman added.[TASS]

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•  Russia will give a very tough response to any seizure of its assets and will treat the West as equivalent to thieves, Foreign Ministry Spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said on air during a Soloviev Live television broadcast.

"This is theft. This is misappropriation of what does not belong to them. We indeed see different methods, probably not to backtrack but to somehow play in this case, because they understood that our response will be very tough, just like to all of [their] previous approaches," the diplomat said.

"When they understood it, they started attempting to finally estimate somehow the cost for them, what type of tit-for-tat measures would cover it exactly, and that they would be hit by retaliatory measures, and there will be retaliatory measures, which, I would like to reiterate, will be very harsh. Given that our country has categorized [the West’s actions] as theft, the attitude taken will be that taken toward thieves. Not toward political manipulators, not toward spin doctors or orchestrators who have outplayed their hand, but precisely toward thieves," Zakharova stressed.

The West is seeking to confiscate Russian assets to compensate for the heavy costs of maintaining "the bloody Ukrainian conflict and the Kiev regime," she added. [TASS]