9 Dec, 03:52

Japan refuses European plan to seize Russian assets — media

Finance Minister Satsuki Katayama stated that Japan has no legal authority to dispose of Russian assets

Japanese Finance Minister Satsuki Katayama

© AP Photo/Eugene Hoshiko

BRUSSELS, December 9. /TASS/. Japan has rejected the European Union’s (EU) proposal to expropriate frozen Russian assets worth approximately $30 billion, Politico Europe reported, citing sources in the European External Action Service.

According to these sources, Finance Minister Satsuki Katayama stated that Japan has no legal authority to dispose of Russian assets.

On October 2, Politico reported that EU members of the G7 had been pressuring Japan and the US to seize Russian assets frozen by Tokyo and Washington.

The European Union, Canada, the United States, and Japan froze approximately $300 billion in Russian assets after the start of the special military operation. Of this total, about $5-6 billion are held in the United States, while the majority are located in Europe, including around $210 billion at the Euroclear settlement platform in Belgium. Representatives of the Russian Foreign Ministry have warned that Moscow will take immediate retaliatory steps if the West confiscates its assets.