The chiefs of staff of the armed forces of the countries of the coalition of those who want to Ukraine will meet next week to coordinate their actions to prevent Russian sabotage by ships of the so-called "ghost fleet", French President Emmanuel Macron announced last night.
One of these oil tankers, which flies the flag of Benin, has been detained off the west coast of France and its captain, a Chinese man, will be tried for refusing to provide information about the registration of the vessel "Barokai". It is on the list of ships sanctioned by the European Union and is reported to have been in Danish waters when drone flights were recorded over military bases and airports in Denmark last month.
Vladimir Putin devoted time to the case during his four-hour appearance tonight at the Valdai Discussion Club in Sochi, calling the actions of the French authorities "robbery and piracy" that could lead to serious consequences.
Putin also compared Macron to Napoleon because he wanted to transform domestic political tensions into external ones and tell the French: "Unite around me, I will lead you to victory". As reported by the Novosti news agency, Putin joked that he would no longer send drones to Denmark, France, or even Lisbon.
In his speech in Sochi, Putin threatened that Russia would immediately respond to any provocation from the West and assured that he had no intention of attacking NATO, but a possible delivery of American Tomahawk cruise missiles to Ukraine would be a dangerous new escalation.