"The captain of an oil tanker that authorities in France have detained off the country's Atlantic coast and that President Emmanuel Macron has linked to Russia will go on trial in February over the crew's alleged refusal to cooperate, a French prosecutor has said. Macron has alleged that the tanker belongs to Russia's shadow fleet of ageing tankers of uncertain ownership that are avoiding western sanctions over Moscow's war in Ukraine."
"The Russian president, Vladimir Putin, denounced the tanker's detention as an act of piracy and alleged that Macron had initiated the move for domestic policy reasons. There is no other way to deflect attention of the population, citizens of France from difficult internal problems that are hard to solve, Putin said at a forum of foreign policy experts in Russia's Black Sea resort of Sochi."
"Putin emphasised that there was no reason whatsoever for seizing the tanker in neutral waters, adding that there wasn't and couldn't be any military cargo or drones. He also warned that such action could provoke confrontation. It's piracy, and how do you deal with pirates? Putin said. You destroy them. It doesn't mean that tomorrow a war will erupt all across the global ocean, but certainly the risk of confrontation will seriously increase."
The captain of an oil tanker detained off France's Atlantic coast will go on trial in February over the crew's alleged refusal to cooperate. President Emmanuel Macron linked the tanker to Russia and suggested it may belong to a shadow fleet of ageing vessels avoiding western sanctions related to the war in Ukraine. Macron did not rule out possible involvement in drone flights over Denmark while the ship sailed nearby. President Vladimir Putin denounced the detention as piracy, accused Macron of political motives and warned the seizure could raise the risk of confrontation. French forces reported aggressive behaviour during boarding, prompting a judicial investigation.
Read at www.theguardian.com
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