According to the agency, the meeting took place within a group of 10 states united by common interests in the North Atlantic and Baltic region. It was also attended by the head of the British armed forces, Richard Knighton, who presented options for action, including joint operations to seize such vessels.
Estonian Defense Minister Hanno Pevkur said after the meeting that countries that provide flags to their ships to circumvent sanctions must understand that other states can take action against such ships. However, specific steps require further discussion as some allies fear escalation.
The agency recalls that the UK previously participated in the seizure of the Marinera tanker in January after pursuit in the Atlantic, and France blocked another tanker in the Mediterranean in January
Context
Russia uses the “shadow fleet” to circumvent international sanctions when trading its oil. As Bloomberg notes, it includes about 1.5 thousand tankers that change flags and owners in order to hide connections with Russia and circumvent sanctions imposed due to the war in Ukraine. More than 600 such vessels are already included in the sanctions lists of the EU, UK and USA.
On January 13, Ukrainian President Vladimir Zelensky said that sanctions pressure from Ukraine and international partners had led to to stop at least a fifth of ships “shadow tanker fleet” of the Russian Federation.
The US has already intercepted several tankers belonging to the “shadow fleet”.
