Russian President Vladimir Putin on Friday blasted an agreement by G7 leaders to use frozen Russian assets to help Ukraine as “theft” and promised retaliation.

He said Western powers were still trying to “create at least some legal basis” for the decision taken on Thursday.

“But in spite of all the fuss, theft will remain theft. It will not go unpunished,” Mr Putin said in a speech at the Foreign Ministry in Moscow.

The G7 summit began Thursday in southern Italy with a deal to lend Ukraine $50 billion using the interest generated from frozen Russian state assets.

The money will be made available to Ukraine by the end of the year.

The U.S. government says around $280 billion of Russian central bank money has been immobilised in Western countries due to sanctions imposed since the full-scale Russian attack on Ukraine more than two years ago.

The bulk of the money is within the European Union.

Kyiv is set to use the money to strengthen its defence, pay for the reconstruction of infrastructure and fund the state budget.

But before it can be disbursed, teams from the G7 countries, Britain, Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, and the United States, must clarify the outstanding technical and legal details.

 (dpa/NAN)