The UK government and the European Union's foreign policy office have rejected Russian President Vladimir Putin's accusations of "piracy" over actions against ships from the so-called Russian "shadow fleet", the BBC reports, reports News.bg.
The British government said that London is taking action against ships used to circumvent sanctions and generate revenue for Russia's war in Ukraine.
„The United Kingdom is cracking down on harmful actions by ships from the "shadow fleet" at sea – actions that finance Russia's war against Ukraine“, the British government press service said.
They stressed that, unlike the ships of the Russian “shadow fleet“, British armed forces and merchant ships act in accordance with international maritime law.
London has already detained a Russian tankerThe British military detained a ship from the “shadow fleet“ for the first time and so far only one in the English Channel in June. It was the tanker “Smirtos“, which was subsequently towed to the port of Weymouth and remains there.
The captain of the vessel is accused of circumventing the sanctions imposed on Russia.
The European Union also rejected the Russian warnings. EU foreign policy spokeswoman Anita Hipper said European countries would not back down from their actions to limit Russian revenues.
“For us, the most important thing is to limit Russia's ability to generate revenues to finance the war. This includes limiting the actions of the “shadow fleet” and his accomplices“, Hipper said.
Putin threatens retaliationOn August 12, during the exercises of the Russian Pacific Fleet, Vladimir Putin said that Moscow will be responsible for the detention of Russian ships.
The Russian president accused some European countries of violating international maritime law by restricting the movement of ships of Russian economic operators.
Putin defined the possible detention and sale of Russian vessels as “piracy and robbery“ and warned that if such actions were implemented in practice, Russia would be “forced to respond in kind“.