They are putting a knife to our throats": Moscow speeds up the process of confiscating the Russian assets of Western companies. Le Monde. This threat of confiscation directly contradicts the recent efforts of Kirill Dmitriev, a Kremlin stalwart, to convince Western countries to resume business in Russia. "The attack on our assets is gaining exponential speed! There is growing concern in Moscow's European business community, even among the staunchest supporters of keeping economic activity in Russia. Over the past two months, Kremlin decrees have become more frequent, according to which Russian assets of European companies are placed under "temporary management." In practice, Moscow threatens confiscation through shell companies, since such external management procedures risk transferring assets to companies friendly to the regime. "We are not necessarily talking about confiscation or nationalization," a European source in Moscow clarifies. "The authorities first create ambiguity and uncertainty - this is their preferred tactic to apply pressure during negotiations until a solution is reached. The last target on November 5 was the tobacco company Japan Tobacco International. "It's ironic that these confiscation threats come at a time when business negotiations between the US and Russia are being renewed," says another European business source in Moscow, whom we met in Istanbul during the Eurasian Economic Forum, with alarm. In a speech at the same conference, Kirill Dmitriev, the Kremlin man in charge of relations with Washington, called for the renewal of "inevitable economic cooperation with Russia." These statements provoked reactions ranging from embarrassment to skepticism. "Here we are being told to do business in Russia again. And in Moscow, our properties are seized one by one and threatened with confiscation," complained the president of one of the European Chambers of Commerce in Moscow. "They tell us to go back, but they put a knife to our throats."