The ban on Russian oil tankers passing in neutral waters

Alexey Gromov, Principal Director on Energy studies at the Institute for Energy and Finance, commented to the PRIME news agency and RIA Novosti on the consequences of the possible introduction of restrictions on the free passage of Russian oil tankers in the waters of the Baltic Sea.

European countries can restrict access to their territorial waters, but no one can prohibit tankers with Russian oil from passing through international waters, this would be a direct violation of maritime law, Alexey Gromov told.

"If this happens in the territorial waters of European countries, then this can be seen as a tightening of sanctions pressure, which will have to be accepted, since this is the jurisdiction of Europe," the expert commented.