Russia says the West has 'essentially stolen' its foreign currency and gold reserves as the EU eyes asset transfer to Ukraine

• Russia accused the West on Monday of stealing from its currency and gold reserves.
• Western sanctions have frozen $640 billion worth of Russian assets.

Russia accused the West of stealing from Moscow's currency and gold reserves on Monday thanks to sanctions that froze Russian assets.

In a statement to reporters discussing the prospect of the European Union's proposal to transfer the frozen Russian assets to Ukraine, spokesperson Dmitry Peskov said "a part large of our assets have been essentially stolen by specific Western countries."

The Western sanctions have blocked Russian access to roughly $640 billion worth cash and gold reserves in response to the Kremlin's February 24 invasion of Ukraine. Other US allies followed suit earlier this year, freezing $30 billion worth of assets held by Russian oligarchs in concert with $300 billion in Russian central bank funds.

The European Union is also considering transferring the Russian cash and gold to Ukraine, drawing criticism from the Kremlin.