The Russian ambassador to the United Kingdom, Andrei Kelin, warned that British plans to intercept Russian ships on Western sanctions lists represent a deliberate escalation and violation of international navigation rules.
In a statement to the Russian newspaper “Izvestia”, Kelin described these steps as a “deliberate escalation of instability,” warning that their consequences would be “very serious for the international legal system and global trade.”
The ambassador stressed that detaining and seizing civilian ships at sea, even under the pretext of being on sanctions lists, is a flagrant violation of the principles of international maritime law and the norms of freedom of navigation, adding that the goal of British policies is to “cause the greatest possible harm to the Russian economy,” and that these actions “will not remain unpunished.”
Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman, Maria Zakharova, had previously said that Russia would consider any British steps to restrict the movement of Russian ships a direct violation of international maritime law, according to recent British media reports.
