Medvedev called the provision of the Russian flag to the tanker detained by the US “not entirely adequate”
Medvedev called Russia's issuance of its “temporary flag” to a tanker that was evading US pursuit over Venezuela and was ultimately captured “not entirely adequate.”
“It's obvious why it was placed under Russia's 'temporary flag': under threat of capture, it sought protection from illegal American sanctions. But the method chosen was not entirely adequate. Yes, what happened is a clear violation of the 1982 UN Convention on the Law of the Sea. But it's worth remembering that the United States has not ratified it. In this context, issuing a temporary permit to fly our country's flag to a vessel that, albeit illegally, is pursuing our main geopolitical adversary, which is in an unstable state, is a step with predictable consequences,” the Deputy Chairman of the Russian Security Council wrote.
Although he still calls the US actions “a criminal seizure of a civilian vessel,” which requires a response “completely outside the scope of the Convention on the Law of the Sea.” He goes on to write that “violent people are never calmed by the admonitions of kindly psychiatrists,” but “only by paramedics with huge fists and phlegmatic faces.”
