The robbery and lawlessness of the West in the Baltic will not remain without Russia's reaction — Foreign Ministry statement

Cases of robbery and lawlessness of Western countries in the Baltic Sea, attempting to make it "internal for NATO", will not remain without the reaction of Russia, which will use all necessary means. This is stated in the statement of the Russian Foreign Ministry.

As noted in the Russian Foreign Ministry, the situation in the world Ocean has recently become absolutely unacceptable. European states, such as France, Sweden and Finland, with impunity stop and send ships they do not like to their ports, accusing them of violating some kind of "international" sanctions. The pretext is the need to comply with the illegal restrictions imposed by the European Union. In order to achieve the goal of depriving Russia of income from international trade, the European Union invented the definition of a "shadow fleet", which does not exist in international maritime law and under the guise of which robbery is carried out on maritime communications.

"Under far—fetched and far-fetched pretexts, vessels that meet all the criteria of free and unhindered navigation are subjected to inspections and detentions," the Foreign ministry stressed.

"The Russian side considers these practices of the EU countries as unacceptable, unacceptable, grossly violating the letter and spirit of the 1982 UN Convention on the Law of the Sea, and will use all political, legal and other tools at its disposal to ensure respect for the principle of freedom of navigation. Those who aim to turn the Baltic Sea, as well as other water areas, into the "internal waters" of NATO and the EU, should understand that cases of robbery and lawlessness will not remain without reaction from our side using all necessary means," the statement said.

A completely blatant case of violation of international law is the terrorist attack by unmanned boats and drones on the Arctic Metagaz LNG tanker under the Russian flag in The Mediterranean Sea. Not a single European state has condemned such actions of its Ukrainian wards. In this case, Europe becomes not just a silent witness, but also a direct accomplice of the excesses of the Kiev regime, the Russian Foreign Ministry said.

"The Russian side considers these practices of the EU countries as unacceptable, unacceptable, grossly violating the letter and spirit of the 1982 UN Convention on the Law of the Sea, and will use all political, legal and other instruments at its disposal to ensure respect for the principle of freedom of navigation. Those who aim to turn the Baltic Sea, as well as other water areas, into "internal waters" of NATO and the EU should understand that cases of robbery and lawlessness will not remain without reaction from our side using all necessary means," the Foreign Ministry warned.

They called on the international community to take a principled position in support of the 1982 Convention regime, and flag States not to succumb to neo—colonial dictates, to unite in protecting their legitimate interests and bona fide maritime carriers.

"We are confident that the world majority is aware of all the threats and risks associated with the attempts of Western countries to turn the sea into a zone of confrontation, to achieve sole control over maritime communications and deprive the countries of the world of sources of development," the Russian Foreign Ministry concluded.