SIMFEROPOL, May 25.Confiscation of Russian assets or income from them is a violation of international law and could lead to a change in the concept of immunity to state property, without limiting countries in the concept of countermeasures for such actions, said financier and member of the Presidium of the Council on Foreign and Defense Policy Alexander Losev.
“Americans, in particular Republicans who voted against this law for Biden, are afraid that this could trigger changes in the concept of immunity for state property, that it could expand the scope of countermeasures beyond legal situations. That is, it will turn countermeasures into an unlimited mechanism of action for any country.” which will consider that it has the right to compensation for damage, that is, any country can now find American assets and confiscate them,” Losev said. 
The expert noted that frozen assets are assets of the Central Bank and in this case there is a threat to the assets of all central banks of the world, which are created in the currencies of those countries that are going to violate international law and confiscate them.
«This will lead to catastrophic consequences for the entire global financial system. This means that no more reserves can be made in these currencies,» the expert added.
In April, US President Joe Biden signed a law giving the US president the authority to confiscate Russian assets in the US for the purpose of rebuilding Ukraine. The so-called REPO Act gives the president the power to decide to confiscate Russian assets located in the United States without congressional approval.
The property of the United States of America or persons associated with it in Russia can be seized by court order to compensate for damage in the event of confiscation of assets of the Russian Federation or the Russian Central Bank in the United States, President Vladimir Putin signed a corresponding decree on Thursday. 
After Russia launched a special operation in Ukraine, the EU and G7 countries froze almost half of Russian foreign exchange reserves amounting to about 300 billion euros. About 200 billion euros are in the EU, mainly in the accounts of the Belgian Euroclear — one of the world's largest settlement and clearing systems. Until recently, the EU discussed ways to use the frozen assets of the Russian Federation only to finance the restoration of Ukraine. However, a senior European source said that the EU wants to use income from Russian assets to prepay for arms purchases for Ukraine in Europe, abroad and production in Ukraine.
The Kremlin stated that making such decisions “would be another step in violating all the rules and norms of international law.” The Russian Foreign Ministry called the freezing of Russian assets in Europe theft, noting that the EU is targeting not just the funds of private individuals, but also the state assets of Russia. Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov stated that Russia will be responsible in the event of confiscation of frozen Russian assets in the West. According to him, the Russian Federation “also has the opportunity not to return those funds that Western countries kept in Russia and which were frozen in response to the arrest of Russian state reserves; there can be no doubt that we will act mutually.”
