President Vladimir Putin said that the EU's efforts to use frozen Russian assets to support Ukraine could be considered "theft if done secretly", but "publicly it is robbery".
The Russian leader also said that Russia's frozen asset campaign for Ukraine is also a public relations disaster for the entire eurozone.
"In addition to the damage to reputation, the bloc may suffer direct losses related to the foundation of modern world financial order," he said.
President Putin stressed that even if the EU tries to use Russian assets, "in the end they will have to return it". He warned that Russia would take legal action in countries and territories that are not biased in this matter.
Also at the press conference, President Putin shared some information about the Russian economy, Mr. Putin said that GDP growth this year reached 1%, while the accumulated growth rate over the past 3 years increased by 9.7%.
Russia's 1% GDP growth is largely due to the government's decision to address inflation and forecast inflation to fall below 6% by the end of the year.
Russia's already low unemployment rate has also fallen further to 2.2%.
Meanwhile, the GDP of the eurozone increased by only 3.1% over the same period.
