President Vladimir Putin threatened on August 13 to seize ships from European countries if they continue with plans to detain more commercial vessels carrying Russian goods.
Speaking from a Russian Navy cruiser off the Pacific island of Sakhalin, where Russia is conducting military exercises, Putin said Moscow would be ready to carry out similar detentions "wherever we see it as necessary and appropriate," according to Russia's TASS news agency.
The statement follows a series of European actions to stop and seize vessels suspected of being part of Moscow's "shadow fleet" carrying Russian oil in violation of European sanctions. New sanctions adopted last month allow European Union member states to sell oil or other cargo seized from these ships.
Putin appeared to reference those sanctions when he said some countries were seeking to "restrict the movement of ships belonging to our businesses" and had recently "come up with the idea of seizing our ships and selling property stolen from us."
"If these plans are carried out, we will have to respond in kind," the Russian leader said in comments carried by the RIA Novosti news agency, calling the moves "piracy and robbery."
Putin said "relevant instructions" had been sent to Russia's Defense Ministry and the Pacific Fleet, the naval force responsible for Russia's maritime military interests in the Pacific.
In the same address, Putin accused the NATO military alliance of pushing deeper into the Asia-Pacific region and increasing tensions in the Arctic. "NATO is penetrating the region, new political-military blocs are being formed, and new weapons systems that pose a threat to Russia are being deployed or planned for deployment," the Russian leader said.
Russia's naval exercises in the Western Pacific come a week before joint U.S.-South Korea drills designed to simulate a possible North Korean invasion. Regional tensions are rising amid accusations from Kyiv and Seoul that Pyongyang and Moscow are deepening military cooperation.
On August 12, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy accused Russia of using North Korean missiles in a deadly air strike across Ukraine. The previous day, he warned that Moscow was receiving more ballistic missiles and troops from its ally Pyongyang, a development he said endangered not only Ukraine but also East Asian nations. North Korean leader Kim Jong Un has sent thousands of soldiers and significant weapons to support Putin's four-year war.
