Putin calls detention of Russia-linked tanker by France 'piracy'

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00:00Russia's so-called shadow fleet funds 30 to 40 percent of its war in Ukraine.

00:06Halt them and you halt Moscow's capacity to finance its operations.

00:11That's according to President Emmanuel Macron, who is calling on Europe to dial up the pressure

00:16and even to follow France's lead in obstructing the vessels.

00:21First, because you can identify the presence of a shadow fleet on your coast.

00:26Second, because you can make sure that they are compliant or not with international rules.

00:32But third, and it's very important, because you kill the business model by detaining, even for days or weeks, these vessels.

00:43The French Navy boarded a tanker known currently as the Baroquei earlier in the week and arrested two of its crew members.

00:50They were charged with refusing to obey a summons and for failing to justify the ship's nationality.

00:57The public prosecutor's office in the northwestern city of Brest, near where the boat was anchored,

01:02announced Thursday that the captain will face trial in February.

01:06The other detainee had been released.

01:09The Baroquei is one of 800 to 1,000 tankers, estimated to be part of a fleet used to circumvent western sanctions on Russian oil.

01:17Shipping data shows it left a port near St. Petersburg on September 20th, heading towards India.

01:25But its route and timing has raised suspicions that it was also involved in launching the drones

01:29that disrupted Denmark's air traffic between the 22nd and 28th.

01:35Macron stopped short of directly linking the two incidents.

01:38He did, however, say that NATO and the Coalition of the Willing

01:42would meet to discuss joint actions to stop the vessels, in addition to current EU sanctions.

01:50Russian President Vladimir Putin called France's detention of the tanker

01:54piracy without grounds.

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