Bloomberg: Saudi Arabia warned G7 against confiscating Russian assets
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Saudi Arabia has privately hinted it could sell some European debt assets if the G7 decides to seize frozen ones Russia's assets amount to almost $300 billion. This was reported by Bloomberg, citing people familiar with the situation.
As noted in the publication, the Kingdom's Ministry of Finance told some colleagues from the G7 that it did not agree with this idea of supporting Ukraine, considering it a “veiled threat.”
Two sources noted that the Saudis, speaking about the possibility sell some European debt assets, specifically mentioned debt issued by the French Treasury.
The agency writes that in May and June the G7 agreed to use only the profits from frozen Russian assets in the interests of Ukraine, but decided on the assets themselves do not touch. At the same time, the United States and Great Britain insisted on the direct seizure of Russian assets. Presumably, the position of Saudi Arabia could influence the decision of some G7 member countries.
At the same time, Bloomberg cites a statement from the Ministry of Finance of Saudi Arabia, which states that there were no such threats, and relations with the G7 and other countries «are based on mutual respect.» One Saudi official told reporters that it was not the government's style to make such threats, but may have simply outlined the negative consequences of any takeover to G-7 members.