A senior Kremlin official has delivered a stark warning to Western governments over efforts to seize Russian ships, saying Moscow could deploy its navy to stop such actions and might retaliate against European maritime traffic if Russian vessels are taken, Nikolai Patrushev, a close ally of President Vladimir Putin, told Russian media on Tuesday.
Patrushev, who serves as chairman of Russia’s Maritime Board, said Western states have tried to block or seize oil tankers suspected of carrying Russian oil as part of broader sanctions aimed at crippling Moscow’s economy amid its war in Ukraine. In January, the United States seized a Russian-flagged oil tanker as part of efforts to curb Venezuelan oil exports, an action Putin denounced as “piracy.”
“If we don’t give them a tough rebuff, then soon the British, French and even the Balts [Baltic nations] will become arrogant to such an extent that they will try to block our country’s access to the seas at least in the Atlantic basin,” Patrushev told the Russian outlet Argumenty i Fakty. He called for substantial Russian naval forces to be permanently deployed in key maritime areas, including far from Russian waters, to “cool the ardour of Western pirates.”
Patrushev accused Western powers of engaging in what he described as “gunboat diplomacy,” citing U.S. naval actions in contexts such as Venezuela and Iran, and said Russia’s updated naval shipbuilding programme through 2050 would soon be submitted for approval. He also said Russia believes the NATO military alliance plans to blockade the Russian exclave of Kaliningrad on the Baltic Sea a move he called “completely illegal” under international law.
The Kremlin aide dismissed the concept of a “shadow fleet” a term Western officials use to describe Russian-linked vessels that seek to evade sanctions as a “legal fiction.” Patrushev warned that attempts by Europeans to blockade Russian maritime access could lead to “active retaliatory measures” and that if peaceful resolution efforts fail, Russia’s navy would “break and eliminate” any blockade.
The comments reflect growing tensions at sea over Western sanctions and efforts to pressure Russia’s economy by targeting shipping networks tied to oil exports.
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