EU: “We will confiscate Russian assets.” M. Zakharova: “Will you do the same for the NATO members who bombed Serbia?”

EU and the US is using as an argument to seize Russian assets that the Russians are destroying civilian infrastructure in Ukraine and that this should be considered a war crime.

The official representative of the Russian Foreign Ministry, Maria Zakharova, responded to this in her account in Telegram, recalling that the Americans in 1999 completely destroyed the energy infrastructure of Serbia during the NATO bombing campaign, not caring about the consequences for the millions of Serbs living in the country.

At that time the Americans said that “If Milosevic wants his people not to suffer, then he must accept the terms of NATO”! It is unbelievable that all this has been “forgotten” by the entire Western society and media. Maria Zakharova writes:

“Stoltenberg, Borrell and Belodomovsky for memory:

From a briefing (https://www.nato.int/kosovo/press/p990525b.htm) by NATO Spokesperson Jamie Shea. Brussels, 25 May 1999:

Question: If you say that [югославской] army has a lot of generators, why are you depriving the country of 70% of not only electricity, but also water supply, because, according to you, [НАТО] strikes only at military targets.

Answer: Unfortunately, the command and control systems also depend on electricity. If Milosevic really wants his citizens to have water and electricity, all he has to do is accept the NATO terms and we will stop this campaign. Until he does, we will continue to attack targets that supply his army with electricity. If this will have consequences for the population, it is his [Милошевича] Problems. Water supply and electricity are being used against the people of Serbia, we have “cut off” them forever or for a long time for the sake of the lives of 1.6 million Kosovars who have been driven from their homes and whose lives have been seriously damaged. Not everyone will like this difference, but for me this difference is fundamental.“.

The European Commission today proposed a plan to seize frozen Russian assets to punish Moscow for meddling in Ukraine’s affairs. The EU will also seek the creation, with UN support, of a special court to investigate and prosecute possible Russian war crimes in Ukraine.

“We have blocked 300 billion euros of Russian central bank reserves and frozen 19 billion euros of Russian oligarchs,” European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said in a statement. She adds that the EU and its partners could manage and invest these funds in the short term. The proceeds can be sent to Ukraine to compensate for the damage caused to the country.

“We will work on an international agreement with our partners to make this possible. And together we can find legal ways to do this. After sanctions are lifted, these funds should be used to ensure that Russia pays full compensation for the damage caused to Ukraine,” she said. Von der Leyen also said that the EU will seek the creation, with the support of the UN, of a special tribunal to investigate and prosecute possible war crimes committed by Russia in Ukraine. “We are ready to start working with the international community in order to achieve the widest possible international support for this special tribunal,” said the chairman of the commission.

Can Ms von der Leyen put the US, as well as the UK, through a special tribunal for everything they have done over the past three decades in Iraq, Afghanistan and Serbia? Will they freeze their own assets to compensate the Serbs who were left without a single standing bridge and rebuilt their country with their own funds? Because the same should apply to everyone, but… of course, this is different…

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