MOSCOW — The Russian Parliament on Wednesday took the first major step to authorize the Kremlin to seize foreign assets and use them to compensate individuals and businesses being hurt by Western sanctions over the Ukraine crisis.

Legislation that passed its first round stands to arm the government of President Vladimir V. Putin with a remarkable weapon of retribution, effectively allowing the government to compensate the same insider businessmen and other elite who Western leaders had hoped would persuade the Russian leader to reverse course in Ukraine.

Although its full parameters were still unclear and it faces several hurdles, the legislation has the potential to ensnare large multinational corporations that have invested heavily in Russia. Global companies like McDonald’s, Pepsi and ExxonMobil hold tens of billions of dollars of assets in the energy-rich country.

The sanctions imposed by the United States, the European Union and others in varying phases since March had been intended to bring Russia to heel. But Mr. Putin pushed back. In August, Russia announced that it would ban many imports of food and agricultural products from Europe and the United States.