On Monday, Finance Minister Anton Siluanov warned that Russia would retaliate in kind to any actions taken by Western countries against its assets abroad.

"This is not a question for us. We are watching the decisions of the Western countries. Any actions with our assets will receive a symmetrical response," he said.

Western countries have imposed sanctions on Russia since February 2022, freezing both sovereign and private assets. The country's currency reserves were frozen to the amount of roughly US$300 billion.

Various reasons have been cited for seizing the Russian assets. In October 2022, the EU leaders asked the European Commission to draft proposals for using the frozen assets to finance the reconstruction of Ukraine.

Russia has responded strongly against the Western sanctions. The Kremlin said they "would be another step towards violating all the rules and norms of international law." The Russian Foreign Ministry denounced freezing Russian assets in Europe as theft.

On Monday, China voiced firm opposition to the EU's decision to put four Chinese companies on a list in its 13th round of sanctions against Russia.

"This is unilateral sanctions and long-arm jurisdiction that has no basis in international law, nor a mandate from the United Nations Security Council," China's Ministry of Commerce (MOC) said.

"This act runs counter to the spirit of the consensus reached during meetings of Chinese and EU leaders and will have a negative impact on China-EU economic and trade relations," it added.

China urged the EU to bear in mind the overall interests of the China-EU comprehensive strategic partnership and unconditionally stop blacklisting the Chinese firms. China will resolutely safeguard the legitimate rights and interests of Chinese enterprises, it added.