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Russian President Vladimir Putin said Wednesday that Moscow would “respond in kind” if European Union countries seize Russian merchant vessels, describing such plans as “piracy and robbery.”
“If this begins to be implemented in practice, we will be forced to respond in kind,” Putin said while participating in the final stages of exercises by Russia’s Pacific Fleet in Yuzhno-Sakhalinsk, in Russia’s Far Eastern Sakhalin region.
Putin said Russia sees authorities in some EU countries attempting to restrict the movement of Russian merchant vessels “in violation of international maritime law.”
He said some countries had considered seizing the vessels and selling what he described as property “they stole from us.”
“This, of course, is nothing less than piracy and robbery,” Putin said.
He added that Russia’s response would not necessarily take place in the waters where any seizures occur, but “wherever we deem necessary and appropriate, anywhere,” including in the Pacific.
Several European countries have intercepted ships carrying Russian oil in contravention of European sanctions targeting a vital source of revenue for Moscow.
New sanctions passed last month allow EU members to sell oil or other cargo seized from the vessels.
Moscow has denounced the measures, with Putin calling them “piracy and banditry.”
“We will be forced to respond in kind,” Putin said while overseeing naval drills in Russia’s Far East.
Moscow would act “wherever we ourselves deem necessary and appropriate, anywhere,” he added.
Swedish court documents obtained by Agence France-Presse (AFP) earlier in August showed Stockholm would transfer to Kyiv a seized Russian ship suspected of transporting grain from occupied Ukraine.
Putin made the remarks aboard the Russian cruiser Varyag off Sakhalin island, where Russia’s navy was conducting drills.
The exercises come a week before joint U.S.-South Korean war games designed to simulate a possible invasion from North Korea.
Tensions remain high in the region amid accusations from Kyiv and Seoul that Pyongyang and Moscow are further intensifying military cooperation.
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