The
comme ts
come
as
the
EU
i te sifies
p essu e
o
Russia’s
so-called
shadow
fleet
MOSCOW:
Russia
P eside t
Vladimi
Puti
wa ed
o
Wed esday
that
Moscow
would
espo d
“i
ki d”
if
Eu opea
atio s
co fiscate
Russia
me cha t
ships,
amidst
escalati g
p essu e
f om
the
Eu opea
U io
ta geti g
the
atio ‘s
so-called
shadow
fleet.Acco di g
to
a
epo t
by
Russia’s
state- u
TASS
ews
age cy,
Puti
asse ted
that
a y
impou di g
of
Russia
vessels
would
co stitute
“pi acy
a d
ba dit y”.”A d
if
this
is
actually
put
i to
p actice,
we
will
be
fo ced
to
espo d
i
ki d,”
Puti
was
quoted
as
sayi g.The
Russia
p eside t
fu the
cautio ed
that
a y
etaliato y
actio
by
Moscow
would
ot
be
est icted
exclusively
to
the
ma itime
zo es
whe e
Russia
vessels
might
be
detai ed.”It
will
happe
whe eve
we
deem
it
ecessa y
a d
app op iate,”
TASS
quoted
the
Russia
p eside t
as
sayi g.These
ema ks
follow
i te sified
effo ts
by
the
EU
aimed
at
cu bi g
Russia’s
shadow
fleet,
a
desig atio
applied
to
ships
suspected
of
facilitati g
the
ci cumve tio
of
Weste
sa ctio s,
i cludi g
est ictio s
imposed
o
c ude
oil
expo ts.The
Eu opea
bloc
has
b oade ed
its
sa ctio s
egime
to
e compass
hu d eds
of
vessels,
with
ce tai
Eu opea
states
detai i g
ships
a d
c ews
fo
i spectio .
Additio ally,
seve al
gove me ts
have
sig alled
that
they
a e
delibe ati g
st icte
ma itime
e fo ceme t
p otocols
agai st
ships
suspected
of
evadi g
sa ctio s.Puti
delive ed
the
stateme ts
du i g
a
visit
to
Sakhali
Isla d
i
Russia’s
Fa
East,
whe e
he
was
eviewi g
milita y
d ills.I
his
add ess,
he
also
cha ged
NATO
with
expa di g
its
footp i t
ac oss
the
Asia-Pacific
te ito y
a d
escalati g
f ictio
i
the
A ctic.”NATO
is
maki g
i oads
i to
the
egio ,
ew
milita y-political
blocs
a e
bei g
fo med,
a d
ew
weapo s
systems
that
pose
a
th eat
to
Russia
a e
bei g
deployed
o
a e
slated
fo
deployme t,”
TASS
quoted
Puti
as
sayi g.The
ece t
wa i g
fu the
heighte s
f ictio
betwee
Moscow
a d
Eu opea
capitals
ega di g
the
e fo ceme t
of
sa ctio s
a d
the
i te ceptio
of
Russia
shippi g
cha els.
