President Vladimir Putin said Russia will seize ships owned by European states if they try to sell cargo seized from Russian-linked ships suspected of belonging to Moscow's so-called "shadow fleet."
"This is nothing but piracy and robbery," Putin said during Russian Pacific Fleet exercises on August 12, referring to Europe's plans to tighten measures against ships suspected of helping Moscow evade Western sanctions.
"If this starts to be implemented in practice, we will be forced to respond in the same way," Putin said, adding that Moscow would not limit its response to the waters where Russian ships are being held. He gave no further details.
Western governments have stepped up efforts to crack down on the "shadow fleet" - a network of ships with dubious ownership that Russia has used to continue oil exports despite sanctions imposed over its invasion of Ukraine.
Putin's statement came after the European Union last month approved a new sanctions package against Russia, which includes measures allowing member states to sell oil or other cargo seized from sanctioned or banned ships.
According to European media reports, documents from a Swedish court showed that Stockholm is planning to transfer to Kiev a seized Russian ship, suspected of transporting grain from parts of Ukraine that Russia has occupied.
Since Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine began in February 2022, energy revenues have been a key source of revenue for the Russian state and its war effort. Kiev aims to limit Russia's ability to finance the war by calling for tough sanctions on the Russian energy sector.
Among other things, the bill – which still needs to be approved by the US House of Representatives – targets Russia's "shadow fleet", including ships, owners, operators, insurers, ports and other intermediaries involved in the transportation of Russian oil and sanctioned goods.
In recent months, the Ukrainian military has also intensified its long-range attacks on Russian "shadow fleet" ships and its energy infrastructure, a campaign that Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has described as Kiev's "long-range sanctions" against Moscow.
