Moscow: Any US seizure of Russian assets will permanently damage ties

Any possible seizure of Russian assets by the United States will completely destroy Moscow's bilateral relations with Washington, TASS news agency has quoted the head of the North American Department at the Russian foreign ministry as saying.

Russia's relations with the West have deteriorated sharply since Moscow sent tens of thousands of troops into Ukraine on February 24, calling it a "special military operation".

The West responded with unprecedented economic, financial and diplomatic sanctions, including freezing around half of Russia's gold and foreign exchange reserves that stood near $640 billion before February 24.

Top Western officials, including European Union foreign policy chief Josep Borrell, have suggested seizing the frozen reserves to help fund the future reconstruction of Ukraine.

"We warn the Americans of the detrimental consequences of such actions that will permanently damage bilateral relations, which is neither in their nor in our interests," Alexander Darchiev told TASS in an interview.

It was not immediately clear which assets he was referring to.

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'Direct party in the conflict'

The United States and its European allies have also frozen $30 billion of assets held by wealthy individuals with ties to Russian President Vladimir Putin, including yachts, helicopters, real estate and art, according to Joe Biden's administration.

The US Department of Justice was seeking broader authority from Congress to seize Russian oligarchs' assets as a means to pressure Moscow over its actions in Ukraine, a prosecutor said in July.

Darchiev also said that Russia warned the United States that diplomatic ties would be badly damaged and could even be broken if Russia is declared a state sponsor of terrorism.

Speaking about the situation in Ukraine, Darchiev said that the US influence on Kiev had increased to the degree that "Americans are increasingly becoming more and more a direct party in the conflict".

Moscow accuses Washington of prolonging the Ukraine conflict by supplying to Kiev advanced weapons systems. It also says US spies are approving and coordinating Ukrainian missile strikes on Russian forces.

Darchiev confirmed that Viktor Bout, an imprisoned Russian referred to by American prosecutors as one of the world's most prolific arms dealers, as well as US basketball star Brittney Griner and former Marine Paul Whelan detained by Russia are being discussed in prisoner swap talks between Moscow and Washington, according to TASS.

Griner has been sentenced to nine years in a Russian penal colony and ordered to pay a fine of one million roubles ($16,590) for smuggling narcotics. She was arrested at a Moscow airport for possessing vape cartridges with a small amount of cannabis oil.

The 31-year-old, who was in Russia to play for the professional Yekaterinburg team during her off-season from the Phoenix Mercury, said the substance was prescribed by a US doctor to relieve pain.

Russia and the United States have already conducted one prisoner swap since the start of Moscow's Ukraine offensive.

In April, Washington exchanged former US Marine Trevor Reed for convicted drug smuggler Konstantin Yaroshenko.

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