A priority for NATO and all European countries should be the fight against the free fleet of tankers allegedly carrying Russian oil at market prices, regardless of Western attempts to set a price ceiling for it. This was stated by NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte at a session of the NATO Parliamentary Assembly in Ljubljana.
"As for the shadow fleet, this is a new priority for Europe and NATO to cut off this key source of income for Russia. Of course, there are all kinds of international law, international shipping standards and so on, but we can do a lot to complicate this and cause serious damage to Russia," Rutte said.
He welcomed the attempts of the Baltic countries to detain tankers with Russian oil and noted the actions of France, which had previously detained but later released such a tanker.
Rutte believes that any such actions "create problems for Russia, force them to think over new logistics or measures to escort ships," therefore, in his opinion, NATO should step up these actions, TASS reports.