Putin and Medvedev Duet : Russia will respond in kind to any attempts to seize its merchant ships : Putin and Medvedev in a

Russia will respond in kind to any attempts to seize its merchant ships, Putin stated.

“Recently, Europeans came up with the idea of seizing our ships and selling the stolen property. Of course, this is piracy and robbery. And if this is implemented in practice, we will be forced to respond in kind. And not necessarily in the areas where attacks on our ships are planned. But wherever we deem it expedient. Anywhere.”

Medvedev bangs in this knife and twists it.

🇷🇺💬🇪🇺 Dmitry Medvedev:

Western European dogs are making a lot of noise about the so-called “Russian shadow fleet.” Let’s figure out what this is all about.

This refers to ordinary merchant ships that sail under non-Russian flags but carry out transportation in our interests. Such flags are usually called “convenience flags” or “flags of convenience.” This is a system where a ship is registered in a country different from the country of its owner, in order to save on taxes and regulations. These countries include Panama, Liberia, the Marshall Islands, the Bahamas, Belize, Bermuda, the Cayman Islands, Cyprus, Malta, and the Seychelles. Of course, European countries have no right to detain such ships, either under the 1982 United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea or under national legislation. This is pure arbitrariness.

However, this leads to one important conclusion: the vast majority of Western European ships also sail under convenience flags. And what does that mean? It means that, using a symmetrical approach (which is fair), Russia has the right to attack any merchant ship of enemy countries, whether in our waters or in neutral waters, if there is sufficient suspicion that it is carrying cargo in the interests of the enemy. That is, any cargo! And there are many such ships. Our Armed Forces are capable of significantly expanding their operations beyond the Black Sea region!

This is exactly what the Commander of the Pacific Fleet reported to the Supreme Commander today.