LONDON: Britain provided tracking and monitoring support for a French operation to board a sanctioned Russian oil tanker in a bid to choke off the funds that fuel Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, UK defense minister John Healey said on Thursday.
Healey said this support included a vessel, HMS Dagger, monitoring the tanker as it passed through the Straits of Gibraltar. The tanker, named the GRINCH, is subject to UK and European sanctions for facilitating trade in sanctioned oil and forms part of a growing web of the so-called “shadow-fleet.”
“Deterring, disrupting and degrading the Russian shadow fleet is a priority for this government,” Healey said in a statement.
“I can confirm that the UK has provided tracking and monitoring in support of the French operation to board the tanker Grinch.”
He said Britain and its allies were stepping up their response to so-called shadow-fleet vessels, which he described as helping finance Russian President Vladimir Putin’s war against Ukraine.
President Emmanuel Macron said earlier on Thursday that the French Navy had boarded an oil tanker coming from Russia that was subject to international sanctions and suspected of flying a false flag.
He said the operation was conducted on the high seas in the Mediterranean with support from several allies and in strict compliance with the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea.
A judicial investigation had been opened and the vessel diverted, the French president said, adding that France was determined to enforce sanctions.
Britain’s Ministry of Defense said it routinely tracks suspected Russian shadow-fleet activity and shares information with allies, adding that the country has sanctioned 544 such vessels to date.
UK supported French operation to board sanctioned Russian tanker, minister says
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UK supported French operation to board sanctioned Russian tanker, minister says
- Healey said this support included a vessel, HMS Dagger, monitoring the tanker as it passed through the Straits of Gibraltar
- “Deterring, disrupting and degrading the Russian shadow fleet is a priority for this government“
Germany’s Merz seeks ‘clear European position’ on tariffs before US trip
- “Customs policy is a matter for the European Union, not for individual member states,” Merz said
- “I will go to Washington with a common European position“
BERLIN: German Chancellor Friedrich Merz said Saturday he will hold talks with European allies on a joint response to US tariffs, ahead of a visit to Washington to meet President Donald Trump.
“We will have a very clear European position on this, because customs policy is a matter for the European Union, not for individual member states,” Merz told the ARD broadcaster.
“I will be in Washington in just over a week,” he added. “And I will go to Washington with a common European position.”
Trump on Friday imposed an additional 10 percent tariff on imports into the United States after after the Supreme Court had struck down many of his sweeping duties imposed last year.
On Saturday Trump said he was raising the rate to 15 percent.
While noting Trump’s additional 10-percent tariff, Merz said he nevertheless expected German exporters to face fewer duties in the future and saw good news in the Supreme Court’s ruling.
“For me, there is a reassuring element in yesterday’s Supreme Court decision: the separation of powers in the USA still seems to be working,” he said. “That is good news.”
