Russia's rights to the foreign assets of the Soviet Union are indisputable and attempts to revise them have no legal basis, said Russian Foreign Ministry, Maria Zakharova.

Her reply came following the statement of the Ukrainian ambassador to the UK, Vadym Prystaiko, about Ukraine's demand to Russia "to return a third of the foreign property of the former USSR."

“The statement of the Ukrainian ambassador to the UK Vadym Prystaiko is populist and has no basis. Our rights to foreign assets of the Soviet Union are indisputable, attempts to revise them have no legal basis.

"Russia is the successor state of the Soviet Union, this status is recognized by the international community, and also confirmed by the International Court of Justice.

"From the point of view of international law, the geopolitical transformations of 1991 did not lead to the disappearance of the Soviet Union as a subject of international law. The state under the name Soviet Union did not stop, but continued its international legal personality under the name 'Russian Federation'. To designate this kind of phenomena in international law, the concept of 'continuation' is used. Thus, Russia is the legal successor of the Soviet Union.

"Russia, as a successor to the right, assumed obligations to pay the external state debt of the Soviet Union. Based on this status, Russia exercises ownership rights to foreign property of the Soviet Union. It is strange that Ukrainian diplomats, trying to claim some kind of property rights, do not remember the existing debt of the Soviet Union, which Russia paid without resorting to the help of Ukraine and other Soviet republics.

"We consider this issue as finally settled, the results of the re-registration of Soviet foreign real estate to Russia are not subject to revision.