Arya News - MOSCOW (Sputnik) - London is urging the European Commission to justify seizing frozen Russian assets via "loopholes" in the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union (TFEU), while brushing aside dissenting member states, the Russian Foreign Intelligence Service (SVR) said on Tuesday.
Another pressure tactic on Washington is to threaten closer EU ties with China, the SVR said. The UK, France, and Germany will signal readiness to pivot toward Beijing if the US pushes a Ukraine deal which Brussels does not like, it added. The UK"s leadership is aggressively lobbying Brussels to confiscate Russian assets held in Belgium"s Euroclear depository, the statement read. In addition to funding Ukraine"s war efforts, London is hoping that if Washington does not get this money, the White House will lose interest in a deal with Moscow, the SVR said.