Russia is preparing to take legal action to oppose a freeze on its $ 600 billion foreign exchange reserves imposed by Western countries, the country's central bank chief said.
Earlier, the United States, the United Kingdom (UK), the European Union (EU) had frozen the foreign currency reserves of the Russian central bank held in their jurisdiction to punish its actions in attacking Ukraine.
This is not only seen as a blow to the Russian financial system but also to affect the global economy more broadly.
According to Elvira Nabiullina, this freezing of gold and foreign exchange reserves is unprecedented, so Russia will work out a lawsuit and prepare to submit it.
Russia has built up more than $ 600 billion in foreign currency reserves held in dollars, gold and other currencies, with about half of it believed to be frozen by sanctions imposed on its central bank.
Sanctions, considered the harshest imposed on the country, have made it difficult for central banks to intervene in the currency market to defend the value of the ruble.
Nabiullina however did not provide further information on when or where the legal action could be taken.
Earlier also Russian Finance Minister Anton Siluanov had issued a similar threat that the Kremlin would sue if the West tried to force it to default on its government debts.
