On August 3, according to TASS news agency, Russia warned it would respond if Ireland took actions to block or inspect commercial ships for the reason of implementing sanctions against Russia.
Russian Ambassador to Ireland, Mr. Yuri Filatov, said that the Russian side had forwarded this message to Dublin after Ireland issued new regulations allowing the military to inspect ships suspected of violating anti-Russian sanctions.
According to Mr. Filatov, the above move shows that Ireland is preparing to participate in activities that Moscow believes may hinder legitimate maritime activities.
What we have witnessed is that Dublin is showing willingness for such actions and can theoretically engage in "piracy" actions with its allies," Mr. Filatov said.
The Russian diplomat emphasized that Moscow had warned Ireland that any attempt to carry out the above actions would entail "extremely serious consequences".
According to TASS, Ireland's new regulations allow the country's military to board ships to inspect suspected cases of violations of sanctions imposed on Russia.
Since the outbreak of the Russia-Ukraine conflict, the European Union (EU) and its Western allies have continuously imposed many sanction packages to restrict Russia's trade, finance and transportation activities. In that context, the tightening of control over ships suspected of violating sanctions has also been strengthened by some European countries.
On the Russian side, Moscow has repeatedly affirmed that Western sanctions are illegal, and accused these countries of taking advantage of the sanctions mechanism to hinder Russia's maritime and commercial activities.
The latest statement by Ambassador Yuri Filatov continues to show that tensions between Russia and the West regarding the implementation of maritime sanctions have not shown signs of cooling down.
