(MENAFN) Andrey Kostin, the chief executive officer of the major Russian bank VTB, described the utilization of interest accrued from Russian assets frozen in Western countries as outright theft.

He made these remarks to a news agency on Saturday during the St. Petersburg International Economic Forum.

Kostin criticized the West, especially the European Union, for their “dangerous” conduct regarding Russian assets.

He warned that such actions might backfire and eventually be used against those same countries. Since the escalation of the Ukraine conflict in February 2022, Western nations have frozen approximately USD300 billion of Russian sovereign funds.

Out of this total, about USD213 billion is held by the Belgium-based settlement institution Euroclear.

He cautioned, “It is a very dangerous thing to play such games. You start against one – tomorrow someone will use it against you.”

Kostin emphasized that the use of the returns generated from these assets—often redirected to support military aid for Ukraine—is blatantly unlawful and constitutes theft.

While Western entities have repeatedly considered the idea of confiscating the assets themselves, they have yet to establish a legal framework to do so, as none currently exists, he added.

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