The US has vetoed a Canadian proposal to create a task force within the G7 to combat Russiaʼs shadow fleet. In negotiations to formulate a joint statement on maritime issues, US officials want to soften the wording in the context of Russia.
Bloomberg writes about this with reference to the draft statement and sources.
Canada, which holds the G7 presidency this year, will host a summit of foreign ministers next week. The participating countries are expected to issue a joint statement.
The US tried to remove the word "sanctions" from the G7 joint statement, as well as the phrase "Russiaʼs ability to wage war" in Ukraine, replacing it with "to receive revenue".
Instead, during negotiations on the formulation of a joint statement on maritime issues, the US is trying to "strengthen" the wording in the context of China.
When it comes to maritime security, the US has insisted on directly naming China as a threat, allegedly because of the risk to “lives and livelihoods” and its illegal maritime claims and military maneuvers, especially in the South China Sea.
The text of the joint statement is not yet final — it may still be changed before or during the summit.
What is known about the Russian shadow fleet?
In early December 2022, the G7 members, as well as Australia and the EU, imposed price caps on Russian oil, setting a maximum price of $60 per barrel. From February 5, 2023, these countries introduced price ceilings on Russian petroleum products: $100 for diesel fuel, $45 for various lubricants.
To circumvent oil sanctions, Russia has begun to form a shadow fleet. In July, British Prime Minister Keir Starmer announced the suppression of Russiaʼs so-called shadow fleet of oil tankers, which helps it circumvent sanctions. At that time, under the leadership of the United Kingdom, 44 European countries and the European Union agreed on new sanctions. The United States and Canada later joined the program. Since then, countries have periodically updated sanctions against the Russian shadow fleet and added new tankers to the sanctions list.
At the same time, Prime Minister Starmerʼs Office noted that some of the shadow fleet ships function as Russian listening stations, while others transport weapons to Russia.
In July, Keir Starmer said that Russia’s shadow fleet consists of almost 600 ships and accounts for about 10% of the world’s “wet cargo”
- This is not the first time since Donald Trump returned to the US presidency that the country has opposed such initiatives and statements in the context of the Russian-Ukrainian war. For example, the US opposed calling Russia an aggressor in a G7 statement dedicated to the third anniversary of Russiaʼs full-scale invasion of Ukraine.
- In addition, the United States, like Russia and Belarus, voted against a resolution initiated by Ukraine and European countries and supported by the UN General Assembly. This document calls Russia an aggressor country and demands that it withdraw its troops from Ukraine within its internationally recognized borders. In previous years, the Americans supported a joint resolution.
- The US resolution proposal differed significantly from the version supported in Europe and included a Russian amendment. The UN General Assembly also supported this document. The original text of the document proposed by the US did not call Russia an aggressor, nor did it call on Moscow to withdraw its army from the occupied territories.
- However, the General Assembly made amendments to the text of the American resolution: they replaced the words "conflict between the Russian Federation and Ukraine" with the words "full-scale invasion of Ukraine by the Russian Federation".
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