Russia’s President Vladimir Putin has signed a decree allowing the country to seize assets of U.S. citizens and companies to compensate for any Russian assets confiscated by the American government.

This was contained in the country’s government legal portal published on Thursday.

Mr Putin’s action comes as the top finance officials from the Group of 7 industrialised nations begin a meeting at which the question of what to do with Russian assets frozen in the West tops their agenda.

The decree signed by Mr Putin says that Russian companies, the central bank and individuals could apply to Russian courts to declare the seizure of property in the U.S. as unjustified.

After Russia’s invasion in 2022, Ukraine and many of its supporters have called for the confiscation of $260 billion in Russian assets frozen outside the country.

However, European officials have resisted, citing legal and financial stability concerns.

But U.S. President Joe Biden, in April, signed into law the Rebuilding Economic Prosperity and Opportunity for Ukrainians Act.

The law allows the administration to seize the roughly $5 billion in Russian state assets located in the U.S.

The law was also included in a U.S. aid package for Ukraine and other nations which includes roughly $61 billion for Ukraine’s defence.