JRL NEWSWATCH: “Russia warns Europe: if you take our assets, we have a response that will hurt” – Reuters
“… Putin [ally Valentina Matviyenko] warned Europe on Tuesday [without specifics] that Russia has already drafted legislation to retaliate if nearly $300 billion of Russian assets were seized by the West … to help Ukraine. … ‘We also have a prepared answer,’ … Matviyenko, the speaker of the Russian upper house of parliament [and a member of Russia’s powerful Security Council], was quoted as saying …. ‘We have a draft law, which we are ready to consider immediately, on retaliatory measures.’ ‘… [T]he Europeans will lose more than we do’ …. The speaker of the lower house of the Russian parliament, Vyacheslav Volodin, said … Monday that Russia had grounds to seize Western assets after the move by the U.S. House of Representatives … [and] that of the $280 billion of Russian assets frozen abroad, only $5 to $6 billion was in the United States while about 210 billion euros ($224 billion) was in the [EU] ….”