Russia's head of parliament Vyacheslav Volodin has threatened Germany with expropriation measures should the West use Russian assets to rebuild Ukraine.

"Today, the German government has decided to shift the problems created by its predecessors onto our country. To this end, they plan to seize Russian assets to rebuild Ukraine," Volodin wrote on his Telegram.

"Once this decision is made, we have the right to equal actions in relation to the property of Germany and other states," Russia's head of parliament underlined.

He stated that the rules should be the same for everyone and the same applies to the seizure of funds and property.

"This will start the process when all states ignore international law and seize what they see fit at their sole discretion.

Germany's leadership should remember from their own history how attempts to encroach on other people's territory ended," Volodin said.

In Germany, the possibility of seizing Russian property for the reconstruction of Ukraine has long been discussed. Federal Justice Minister Marco Buschmann has openly advocated the expropriation of Russian oligarchs. However, it must be proven in court that the persons involved were involved in war crimes or illegal warfare, he said.

On December 22, the US Senate approved an amendment allowing the transfer of seized assets belonging to Russian oligarchs to the people of Ukraine. Shortly before that, Canada announced the start of a process to seize $26 million in assets from a company owned by sanctioned Russian oligarch Roman Abramovich - perhaps the first public attempt to implement the seizure mechanism implemented in June, 2022.

However, as of the end of 2022, the EU has not taken any real measures to seize Russian assets.