Tensions have been slowly heating up between the U.S. and Russia as the Trump administration has increased its threats against Russia’s oil tanker fleet. Trump has repeatedly called on countries to halt all purchases of Russian oil, and last year imposed new sanctions on two of Russia’s largest oil companies. Additionally, European countries have detained Russian tankers multiple times without legal justification.
Alexander Shokhin, the head of the Russian Union of Industrialists and Entrepreneurs and former government minister in several governments, gave an interview to TASS where he warned that Russia may have to take more serious measures if the current threats against its tanker fleet continue. He noted the ongoing “encroachments on container ships, not to mention the so-called shadow fleet and oil tankers.” One option would be “protecting them by escorting them, say, with naval vessels,” Shokhin said. Regardless, “some appropriate responses, including taking into account that these seizures involve the use of military force, may be possible. Frankly speaking, this is no longer a trade blockade of the kind of a continental blockade. Nevertheless, this is, in fact, a step toward an actual war. Therefore, we must show some restraint,” Shokhin said.
