The British government announced on Friday of new sanctions against the “ghost fleet” used by Russia on Friday to export its oil and its gas, upstream of a defense meeting in the countries of northern Europe in Oslo.
• Read also: The Washington-London agreement, the first “of many others,” said Trump
• Read also: American customs duties reduced to 10% for British cars
• Read also: Customs duties: what we know about the agreement between London and Washington
These new sanctions are aimed at “up to 100 oil tankers”, which have transported “more than $ 24 billion” (21.3 billion euros) since the start of 2024, the government said.
The United Kingdom has already targeted dozens of ships from this “ghost fleet” used by Moscow to circumvent Western restrictions imposed since the start of the war in Ukraine.
“The threat of Russia on our national security should not be underestimated,” said Prime Minister Keir Starmer, quoted in a statement.
“This is why we will do everything in our power to destroy the operations of its ghost fleet, in order to deprive its oil income war machine and protect the underwater infrastructure on which we depend for our daily lives,” he added.
This new package is announced upstream of its participation on Friday in a meeting of the EXPEDITIONARY Force joint (Jef), a military coalition led by the United Kingdom and which brings together 10 countries in northern Europe, including Norway, Denmark, the Netherlands, and the Baltic States.
The question of the protection of underwater infrastructure will be on the menu for discussions, while the ships of the “ghost fleet” are regularly accused by Europeans to damage-voluntarily or not-underwater cables.
Since January, the Jef has been carrying out operations to track down these suspicious ships in 22 “areas of interest”, notably the Channel, the North Sea and the Baltic Sea, said London.
The meeting will also be an opportunity to announce new support for the Ukrainian army, in particular in terms of training and efforts to counter disinformation.
London and Oslo must also sign a memorandum of understanding on space, aimed at “protecting national infrastructure”, via “intelligence sharing on satellites, space debris and other objects flying over the land”, detailed the British government.
