UK SPEARHEADS CRACKDOWN ON RUSSIA’S ‘SHADOW FLEET’
- President Zelenskyy will be hosted by the Prime Minister at an extraordinary meeting of the Cabinet this morning
President Zelenskyy will be hosted by the Prime Minister at an extraordinary meeting of the Cabinet tomorrow morning, as the UK spearheads a major initiative to crack down on Russia’s ‘shadow fleet’.
The Ukrainian leader, who will be the first official visitor to Downing Street during Prime Minister Keir Starmer’s tenure, is expected to meet and brief the new Cabinet about the situation on the battlefield in Ukraine, and the need to ramp up Europe’s defence industrial base to outpace the Russian threat. The last foreign leader to address the Cabinet in person was President Clinton in 1997.
The meeting comes after the launch of a ‘Call to Action’ to disrupt the Russian fleet – which is enabling Russia to evade international sanctions – at the European Political Community summit yesterday.
Spearheaded by the UK, 44 European countries plus the European Union have agreed to work together to tackle the use of illegitimate vessels, which also pose significant security and environmental threats to European waterways.
The shadow fleet is made up of around 600 vessels and represents approximately 10% of the global “wet cargo” fleet. It carries approximately 1.7 million barrels of oil per day, generating significant funds to fuel Russia’s war machine.
Some of the ships are also alleged to double as Russian listening stations, while others are believed to be transporting weaponry to Russia.
The Prime Minister is expected to tell President Zelenskyy today that the UK will go further in the coming months to place a greater stranglehold on Putin’s war machine.
The two leaders are also expected to agree a Defence Export Support Treaty, which will be signed by defence ministers, to fire up both the UK’s and Ukraine’s defence industrial bases and increase military hardware and weaponry production.
The treaty will enable Ukraine to draw on £3.5 billion of export finance, to support its armed forces. It will also allow Ukrainian and UK defence companies to invest in further military capabilities and continue to rapidly innovate on new and novel military hardware.
The boost follows the opening of a major UK repair and overhaul facility in Ukraine to help sustain the war effort. BAE Systems opened the facility to allow Ukraine to return overhauled land vehicles back to the front line quicker.
The export finance is in addition to the £3 billion a year of UK support, announced by the Prime Minister at NATO, to support Ukraine’s defence for as long as it takes.
Prime Minister Keir Starmer said: “Ukraine is, and always will be, at the heart of this government’s agenda and so it is only fitting that President Zelenskyy will make a historic address to my Cabinet.
“Russia’s incremental gains on the battlefield are nothing compared with the collective international support for Ukraine, or the strength of ties between our people.
“And alongside our European partners, we have sent a clear message to those enabling Putin’s attempts to evade sanctions: we will not allow Russia’s shadow fleet, and the dirty money it generates, to flow freely through European waters and put our security at risk.”
The UK has also sanctioned a host of oil tankers today, which transport Russian oil. Among the new ships targeted are the ROCKY RUNNER (IMO 9288899), which sought to escape previous UK action by changing its operator.
This follows after UK action last month that halted tankers collectively responsible for transporting approximately 13 million barrels of Russian crude and oil products since January 2023, worth approximately $930 million.
The ‘shadow fleet’, also known as the ‘dark fleet’, poses serious maritime security and environmental risks. The vessels are often old and unsafe, and engage in dangerous and deceptive shipping practices, such as turning off location tracking systems, which flouts international maritime standards, and increases the likelihood of catastrophic incidents.
EPC states govern some of the world’s busiest and most important waterways, and dozens of incidents are known to have already taken place, such as onboard fires, engine failures, oil spills and collisions, and many of the vessels lack the appropriate insurance.
The UK has already taken robust action to restrict Russian revenues, including implementing the most severe package of sanctions ever imposed on a major economy – sanctioning more than 2,000 individuals and entities since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, including 29 banks with global assets worth £1 trillion, more than 131 oligarchs with a combined net worth of more than £147 billion at the time of the invasion, and more than £20 billion worth of UK-Russia bilateral trade.
Action to disrupt and deter the shadow fleet comes after the UK contributed £40 million to NATO’s Comprehensive Assistance Package for Ukraine last week, ensuring Ukraine can access vital assistance for counter drone protection, demining of recaptured land and the medical rehabilitation of its injured military personnel. That followed the UK-administered International Fund for Ukraine placing new orders, worth £300 million, for 120,000 rounds of 152mm Soviet-era ammunition to bolster Ukraine’s defences against Russia.
The leaders are also expected to discuss the conclusion of UK – Ukraine negotiations to provide £181 million of support to Energoatom for the supply of nuclear fuel from Urenco.
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