Russia calls EU inspection of vessel off Libya illegal
Russia has condemned the European Union’s inspection of a Russian vessel off the Libyan coast, describing the operation as illegal.
The Russian Foreign Ministry said an Italian-European team inspected a Russian vessel in the Mediterranean on August 2 for about two hours, concluding that the suspicions prompting the inspection were unfounded.
Moscow also said the UN Security Council-authorized Operation Irini was tasked with enforcing the arms embargo on Libya, monitoring illicit oil exports, and combating human smuggling on the high seas, noting that the mission’s mandate expired in May 2026.
Italy’s Defense Ministry had announced on August 2 that its forces inspected an oil tanker in the central Mediterranean suspected of belonging to Russia’s “shadow fleet.”
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