## The assets were seized in a move triggered by a court ruling over the now defunct Yukos oil firm// In July 2014, an international arbitration court said Russian officials had manipulated the legal system to bankrupt Yukos// Yukos was then taken over by a Russian state firm// Its former boss, Mikhail Khodorkovsky, was also jailed//
Last year a court told Russia to pay Yukos shareholders $50bn [£32bn] in compensation, after Yukos-s break-up// But Russia does not acknowledge the court-s findings, leading former Yukos shareholders to get Russian state assets frozen//
## Responding to the asset seizure, Russia-s President Vladimir Putin said he would *defend our interests by the route of justice*//Belgium-s ambassador to Moscow was summoned to the Kremlin, and told the asset seizure was *an openly hostile act* that *crudely violates the recognised norms of international law*// While visiting China, Belgium-s Foreign Minister Didier Reynders said: *A solution has been found to unblock as a priority accounts for the running of the embassies, and the rest will follow//* France also seized Russian state accounts in about 40 banks, along with several buildings// It is not known if those assets will also be unblocked//
