Vladimir Putin has warned that Russia may consider attacking ships from countries that support Ukraine if Moscow does not desist from escalating attacks on its tanker fleet.
Attacks on tankers linked to Russia have increased over the past week. At least one ship manager said he would stop shipping to Russia because of the attack on his cargo ship.
Read more: The risk of a Black Sea war increases by 250% after insured ship attacks
As the U.S. makes a fresh push to end the conflict, Russia and Ukraine are fighting an increasingly intense energy battle as they try to gain meaningful leverage after months of stalemate on the front line.
Ukraine is launching a record attack on Russian oil refineries and has severely damaged a key marine terminal that handles oil from Kazakhstan. Russia is stressing Ukraine’s energy infrastructure, aiming to dampen morale before winter sets in.
Retaliatory measures
Putin said the first possible countermeasure would be to extend the range of Russian “strikes against port facilities and ships” calling at Ukrainian ports.
“Secondly, if this continues, we will consider the possibility – I’m not saying we will do it, but we will consider the possibility of retaliatory measures against the ships of countries that help Ukraine commit these acts of piracy,” Putin said.
Brent futures erased an earlier decline of 1.6 percent to trade little changed in London. Traders are waiting for signs of whether US efforts to end the war in Ukraine will succeed.
The attacks began late last week, with an attack on a fuel tanker off the coast of Senegal. The ship’s manager said it would stop trading in Russia.
This was followed by attacks on two large oil tankers in the Black Sea and then on Tuesday, a smaller ship carrying sunflower oil.
A person familiar with the matter said Ukraine was behind the two Indian Ocean attacks last week. However, the perpetrators have not generally accepted responsibility for the incidents.
If other companies are wary of moving to Russia, it could increase the cost of transporting the country’s goods to global markets.
“The most basic option is to cut off Ukraine from the sea, then piracy would be impossible in principle,” Putin said.
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