UK cracks down on Russia’s shadow oil fleet; Starmer to meet Zelenskiy

UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer announced a crackdown on Russia’s shadow fleet of oil tankers, supported by 44 European nations, to enforce sanctions and disrupt Moscow’s oil trade. The UK also sanctioned 11 tankers, adding to over 60 already targeted. Ukrainian President Zelenskiy will meet Starmer to discuss increased military support for Ukraine.

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By Alex Wickham, Alberto Nardelli and Ellen Milligan

UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer announced a crackdown on Russia’s so-called shadow fleet of oil tankers used to skirt international sanctions, saying 44 European nations had endorsed the plan at a meeting of the European Political Community hosted in Britain.

The joint “call to action” — first reported earlier in the week by Bloomberg — aims to disrupt the fleet of around 600 vessels which Western countries say are used by Moscow to transport some 1.7 million barrels of oil per day, according to a statement released late on Thursday by Downing Street.

The UK government also announced sanctions on 11 tankers that it said were being used to carry Russian oil.

“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,” Starmer said in remarks released by his office after the premier had hosted some 46 European leaders at the summit in Blenheim Palace near Oxford.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy will attend a meeting of Starmer’s Cabinet to discuss the measures on Friday, becoming the first foreign leader to address the meeting in person since US President Bill Clinton in 1997, according to the statement.

The fleet of oil tankers is used to fund Russia’s war machine in Ukraine, and also poses an environmental threat to Europe’s waterways, the UK statement said. Some of the ships also act as Russian listening stations and transport weapons to Russia, it added.

Eight of the 11 tankers sanctioned by Britain are owned by Russia’s state-run oil tanker business, Sovcomflot PJSC, while three others bear the hallmarks of shadow-fleet vessels, according to an updated sanctions list.

The designations mean that more than 60 oil tankers are now under sanction by US, UK or European Union authorities. Of the 11, two had already been targeted by the EU. The measures so far have seen the vast majority of the tankers in question stop collecting cargoes.

Starmer and Zelenskiy will on Friday agree a Defence Export Support Treaty, drawing on £3.5 billion ($4.5 billion) of export finance, to increase the production of military hardware for Ukraine, the UK government said.

On Thursday evening, Zelenskiy met with representatives from UK Export Finance, BAE Systems, Thales UK, MBDA, KBR and Babcock International Group, with BAE and Babcock announcing updated contracts in support of Ukraine, according to a Ministry of Defence statement.