RUSSIA WILL ‘RESPOND IN KIND’ TO SEIZURE OF ITS VESSELS BY EU NATIONS, PUTIN SAYS

Wed 12 August 2026:

Russian President Vladimir Putin said Wednesday that his country would “respond in kind” to the seizure of its merchant vessels by EU countries, defining such plans as “nothing more than piracy and robbery.”

“If this begins to be implemented in practice, we will be forced to respond in kind,” Putin, attired in navy blue military gear, said while addressing servicemen of Russia’s Pacific Fleet aboard the cruiser Varyag, the fleet’s flagship vessel, in the country’s Far Eastern region of Sakhalin.

Putin said Russia sees authorities in some EU countries attempting to restrict the movement of its merchant vessels “in violation of international maritime law.” He argued that these countries have even considered seizing them and selling the property, which he said, “they stole from us.”

“This, of course, is nothing less than piracy and robbery,” Putin went on to say, adding that Russia’s response would not necessarily occur in the waters where the seizures take place, but “wherever we deem necessary and appropriate, anywhere,” including in the Pacific.

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Putin’s remarks come amid increasing pressure from the EU on Russia’s “shadow fleet,” with the 27-member bloc expanding sanctions in this regard in recent months.

The Russian president arrived in the city of Yuzhno-Sakhalinsk, the Far Eastern island’s administrative center, earlier Wednesday to participate in the final stage of a large-scale exercise conducted by the Pacific Fleet, which began on Aug. 4.

In his address to Russian servicemen, Putin said that exercises such as those taking place since earlier this month are necessary to maintain readiness and protect his country’s interests and security in the Asia-Pacific region, where he accused NATO of trying to “infiltrate.”

Arguing that the potential for conflict in this region is growing, Putin said tensions are also escalating in the Arctic region “around the use of the Northern Sea Route.”

“Russia has always … confirmed its readiness to cooperate in utilizing the advantages of the Northern Sea Route, within the framework of current maritime law,” Putin said, expressing that plans to deploy new weapons systems in the Asia-Pacific region pose a threat to Russia.

He went on to accuse Japan of imposing sanctions on Russia that he said were “unprovoked” on Moscow’s part.

The Russian president also said that Japan continued to have territorial claims against his country through the Kuril Islands and that Moscow had constructive relations with Tokyo on the issue during former Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe’s administration.

“Now we see, unfortunately, changes in positions, which, I emphasize, were not provoked in any way on our part,” he added.

Japan and Russia have an ongoing territorial dispute over the four southernmost Kuril islands, namely Etorofu, Kunashiri, Shikotan, and the Habomai islets, which are controlled by Russia, but Japan identifies them as the Northern Territories.

The dispute has prevented the signing of a peace treaty between the two countries since World War II, and tensions have deepened in recent years amid Tokyo’s sanctions against Moscow over the Russia-Ukraine war.

-Source: AA

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