MOSCOW, April 30. /TASS/. NATO countries are increasing their military activity in several maritime zones, intensifying attempts to blockade Russia at sea, presidential aide and head of the Maritime Board Nikolay Patrushev pointed out at a meeting of the body’s presidium.
"We can see a consistent increase in NATO’s military activity in the Baltic and North Seas, the North Atlantic and the Asia-Pacific region," Patrushev stressed. "The purposeful actions aimed at maritime blockade of our country have increased, including attempts to search ships in international waters and to commit acts of sabotage and terrorism," the presidential aide exemplified.
The statement on the outcomes of the board meeting notes that the participants "paid attention to counter-sanctions measures, as well as the development of mutually beneficial partnerships in the maritime sector." The meeting also addressed additional steps to respond to navigation restrictions and the discriminatory treatment of Russian vessels in the Baltic Sea, the statement points out.
In the middle of last year, the United Kingdom, Denmark, Poland, Finland, Sweden and Estonia agreed to start inspections of "suspicious" vessels coming from Russia for compliance with Western sanctions against Moscow. Moreover, since the agreement is multifaceted, such inspections were supposed to be carried out not only in national but also international waters. Estonia has taken things even further. The country’s authorities are not only looking at expanding their adjacent sea zone by an additional 40 kilometers, despite the Baltic Sea’s narrowness, but are also considering sinking "suspicious civilian vessels." The Baltic Sea is the only route to the significant Russian maritime hubs of Kaliningrad and St. Petersburg.