If necessary, the Russian Navy will ensure the safety of Russian shipping.
Moscow. The 21st of April. INTERFAX - Plans by the United Kingdom and a number of EU countries to impose a naval blockade on Russia will be met with an adequate and proportionate response from Moscow, Russian Presidential aide Nikolai Patrushev said.
"It is obvious that the challenges and threats at sea for Russia today are not just present, but are increasing in many ways. The collective West is no longer shy about openly talking about its intentions to expel our shipping from there, and the sanctions plans voiced, for example, by the British and some EU members are generally beginning to resemble a naval blockade," Patrushev said in an interview published on Monday by the Kommersant newspaper.
These measures, Patrushev stressed, "will be met with adequate and proportionate resistance."
"If diplomatic or legal instruments do not take effect, then our Navy will be ready to ensure the safety of Russian navigation. The hotheads in London or Brussels need to understand this clearly," said Patrushev, chairman of the Russian Maritime Board.
Noting that "after the collapse of the socialist camp, Americans and Europeans dominated the seas both militarily and economically," Patrushev stressed that "the collective West rested on its laurels rather than keeping up with the times."
"In the United States, shipbuilding gradually deteriorated, shipyards were closed, the reproduction of human resources was not supported, and the technological gap was increasing. But Western competitors, primarily China, were ahead of the curve, although they started from very modest starting positions. As a result, today it is China that is the number one maritime economic power in the world, and in naval terms, Beijing is already on the heels of the Americans. I believe that this is exactly the situation that the Donald Trump administration wants to fix," Patrushev said.
Answering the question of which decisions of Trump in maritime activities attracted his special attention, Patrushev noted that the decree "On the restoration of American Maritime Supremacy" proclaims the tasks of reviewing financial support for maritime activities, increasing the competitiveness of U.S.-flagged and American-built vessels, restoring shipbuilding and related industries, expanding and strengthening the workforce..
"To this end, the decree prescribes the development of a "Maritime Action Plan" within 210 days. In addition, within 180 days from the date of signing the decree, it is planned to prepare a scheme for the use of budgetary funds and private capital, which will be used to develop shipbuilding for the US Navy and civil shipbuilding, ship repair and logistics facilities, improve supply chains of marine equipment, and train and stimulate personnel. Finally, an inventory of all government programs related to national maritime activities in the United States should also be carried out within 90 days," the Russian presidential aide said.
He also noted that in addition to this decree, Trump has made a number of decisions in this area.
