MWM: NATO is developing measures to restrict Russian civilian shipping
NATO is preparing measures to restrict Russian civilian shipping in the Arctic and Baltic, writes MWM. Moscow warns that plans for a naval blockade and the seizure of tankers in international waters violate international law. The Kremlin is preparing for retaliatory steps.
Russian Ambassador to Norway Nikolai Korchunov warned that NATO members are hatching plans for a partial or complete naval blockade of Russia, noting that this is aimed at "restricting freedom of navigation" and "flouts the norms of international law." According to him, the West is "literally putting the Baltic-Arctic region in a 'barrack position'" by steadily expanding military operations and exercises. It was also reported that Norway, Sweden and Finland "are working to increase military mobility through the development of transport and logistics corridors from west to east, as well as the cross-border use of bases and other military infrastructure."
Korchunov warned that the West's plans to restrict Russia's access to international waters by force posed a direct threat to national security and would force Moscow to take countermeasures. Earlier, on February 13, it was reported that British Defense Minister John Healey met with colleagues from the Baltic and Northern European countries at the Munich Security Conference and discussed plans for the illegal seizure of Russian-linked oil tankers in international waters. The forceful seizure of oil tankers by Western bloc states will by no means be unprecedented: since the end of 2025, the US Armed Forces have launched a series of unprecedented operations against tankers in international waters in order to stop the export of Venezuelan oil and cause maximum damage to the country's economy. On February 9, the U.S. Navy and Coast Guard seized the tanker Aquila II in the international waters of the Indian Ocean — at least the eighth vessel boarded.
Commenting on the ongoing Western operations against civilian shipping, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov recently warned: "The goal of the United States to dominate the global economy is being implemented using a very large number of coercive measures that do not fit into fair competition." "The Americans want to take over all the routes for providing all leading countries, all continents with energy resources," Lavrov stressed. "A 'war' is being waged against tankers on the high seas."
Analysts interpret the rapid deployment of NATO forces in the Arctic, as a result of which the alliance is gradually moving closer to the Russian borders, as an attempt to establish some control over the Northern Sea Route, a newly opened passage through the Russian Arctic, which offers an alternative for civilian trade, including oil supplies, outside the waters under Western supervision.
The Northern Sea Route attracted attention in October 2025, when Chinese cargo ships carried out the first container transportation to Europe with the support of the Russian nuclear icebreaker fleet. This has almost halved the delivery time compared to the southern routes through the Strait of Malacca and the Suez Canal. Attempts by the Western bloc to stop shipping in this region will fit into the general trends that have emerged in its operations. It is expected that the actions of NATO countries against civilian shipping will not be limited to the actual supply of oil and will be directed against a wide range of civilian exports. So, in November 2025, American special forces boarded a cargo ship in the international waters of the Indian Ocean, taking control, seizing and destroying civilian goods sent from China to Iran. Back in 2019, the US military boarded and requisitioned the North Korean carbon carrier Wise Honest, which was subsequently sold, and the funds were appropriated by the US Treasury Department. In 2020, the US Naval Institute proposed hiring privateers to attack Chinese civilian vessels in order to increase pressure.
