Moscow will not simply abandon the situation with Russian assets in Europe, Lavrov says

ArmInfo. Moscow will not abandon the situation regarding the use of income from frozen Russian assets in Europe, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov stated on Wednesday.

"The seizure of our gold and foreign exchange reserves is worth something. They say that, according to the rules, they only use interest that exceeds the interest we are entitled to from investing this money. Whatever interest you use, it comes from our own money, which we cannot currently manage. I have no doubt that we will not simply abandon this situation," he said, speaking during "Government Hour" in the State Duma.

Lavrov emphasized: "There will be no hints or initiatives from us. If they want to change their minds, then they are welcome to approach us. And we will consider these requests based on our interests."

Commenting on statements made by the leaders of France and Finland about the need for dialogue with Russia, Lavrov said: "Europe has woken up and is trying to send signals. (...) This is all empty talk: there has never been a case where one of the world leaders asked to talk to our president and was refused. (...) Our position is very simple: Europe has completely discredited itself in our eyes."