Russian Foreign Ministry statement on Western countries’ unlawful actions in the World’s oceans

Russian Foreign Ministry statement on Western countries’ unlawful actions in the world’s oceans:

The recent developments in the World’s oceans have reached the point where they have become outright unacceptable. European countries such as France, Sweden, and Finland are acting with impunity as they stop vessels they deem undesirable and escort them to their ports, accusing them of violating obscure international sanctions. They are using an alleged failure to comply with unlawful EU-imposed restrictions as a pretext for doing so. In a bid to deprive Russia of revenue from international trade, the EU has come up with the notion of a “shadow fleet,” which does not exist in international maritime law and is being used as a cover for acts of piracy on maritime routes.

Under baseless and implausible pretexts, vessels that fully meet the criteria for free and unfettered navigation are detained and subjected to inspections.

We are here to remind the European officials that only the sanctions approved by the UN Security Council can be considered international. Illegal restrictive measures unilaterally adopted by individual states or limited groups thereof are neither international nor legitimate. The fact that unilateral sanctions run counter to international law has been repeatedly reinforced by the UN General Assembly resolutions.

The West attempts to justify its actions by claiming that vessels without a flag cannot enjoy freedom of navigation and must therefore be detained. Interestingly enough, vessels operating under false flags in the interests of European states never get subjected to such restrictions. Destination, not the flag, is the key factor. If oil is en route to European consumers, European authorities will find no grounds to detain such vessels regardless of how oil is transported.

A terrorist attack using unmanned boats and drones against the LNG tanker Arctic Metagaz sailing under the Russian flag in the Mediterranean Sea was a particularly egregious violation of international law. Not a single European state has condemned such actions by their Ukrainian clients. In this case, Europe is not merely a silent witness but a direct accomplice in Kiev regime’s outrages.

The Russian side regards these practices by EU countries as unacceptable and untenable constituting a gross violation of both the letter and the spirit of the 1982 UN Convention on the Law of the Sea, and will employ all available political, legal, and other instruments at its disposal to ensure respect for the principle of freedom of navigation. Those who seek to turn the Baltic Sea and other maritime areas into “internal waters” of NATO and the EU should know that we will use all necessary means to respond to acts of piracy and lawlessness.

We call on the international community to take a principled stance in support of the 1982 Convention, and on flag states not to yield to neo-colonial diktat, but to unite in defending their lawful interests and legitimate maritime carriers.

We are confident that the world majority recognises the threats and risks arising from Western countries’ attempts to turn maritime spaces into a zone of confrontation, to achieve unilateral control over sea routes, and to deprive countries around the world of sources of growth.

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