Foreign ships will have to obtain permission from the Russian Federal Security Service (FSB) to enter Russian ports, according to a decree signed by Russian President Vladimir Putin, Reuters reported, quoted by BTA.
It states that permits for the entry of foreign ships issued by port authorities will have to be coordinated with the FSB, which is the successor to the KGB and also performs border control functions in the country.
The new rules come into force immediately after the publication of the decree, which was promulgated today.
Previously, the rules for docking foreign ships in Russian ports were were determined by the Ministry of Transport, and a special regime was provided for ports located near military bases, TASS reports.
The text of the new decree explicitly states that the introduced changes to the rules will apply to all Russian ports, without providing arguments for this measure.
The ships of the Russian "shadow fleet", which Moscow uses to circumvent Western sanctions, are subject to increased control by the West. Last week, the European Union lowered the price ceiling for Russian oil in order to limit Moscow's oil revenues, and US President Donald Trump threatened Russia and its trading partners with additional tariffs if a ceasefire in Ukraine is not achieved within 50 days.