Putin Threatens Retaliation After Tanker Attacks

Russian President Vladimir Putin threatened on Tuesday to block Ukraine’s access to the sea in response to recent drone attacks in the Black Sea against vessels transporting Russian oil.

He called the attacks late last week on two “shadow fleet” tankers in Turkey's exclusive economic zone "piracy" and said Russia would step up strikes on Ukrainian ports and on ships entering them.

Putin also warned that Russia may consider taking retaliatory measures against ships from countries helping Ukraine carry out the attacks.

"The most radical way is to cut Ukraine off from the sea, and then it will be impossible to engage in piracy in general," Putin said in televised remarks, emphasizing that Russia may resort to such measures in the future.

"I hope that the Ukrainian military and political leadership, as well as those behind them, will consider whether it is worth continuing this practice," he warned.

Turkish authorities reported earlier on Tuesday a drone attack off the Turkish coast on a Russian-flagged tanker carrying vegetable oil to Georgia, days after two shadow fleet tankers were hit by Ukrainian naval drones.

According to official data, 13 crew members were on board the Midvolga 2 tanker, which headed to the Turkish port of Sinop after the incident.

The Russian president made his comments to reporters ahead of talks with US special envoy Steve Witkoff who brought to Moscow a peace plan aimed at ending Russia’s war in Ukraine.

Putin also accused Europe of hindering US President Donald Trump's peace efforts. "They don't have a peaceful agenda. They're on the side of the war," he said, noting that the EU’s proposals on resolving the conflict were unacceptable to Moscow.

Putin insisted that Russia was not seeking a war with Europe, but he warned that “if Europe wants to fight, we are ready right now,” in a demonstration that Moscow is not ready to give up on its demands toward a peace deal.

CPC Update

Meanwhile, attacks on Russian energy infrastructure have intensified.

Ukrainian naval drones on Nov. 29 badly damaged one of three single point moorings (SPMs) at the Caspian Pipeline Consortium’s (CPC) Black Sea export terminal, which ships over 1.5 million barrels per day of mostly Kazakh crude to global markets.

As a result, crude oil loadings from the damaged SPM-2 mooring were suspended for an "indefinite period.”

Kazakh officials and US major Chevron, one of the largest CPC shareholders, have confirmed that loadings of crude pumped from the Tengiz field in Kazakhstan are continuing at Russia's Novorossiysk port.

However, industry players believe CPC may experience export delays this month, as only one of the SPMs is currently operational.

SPM-3 is undergoing planned maintenance, although insiders claim that CPC now aims to complete the work ahead of schedule to enable it to meet its loading program.

The CPC shareholders include Russia (31%), Kazakhstan (19%) and a group of companies — US majors Chevron and Exxon Mobil, UK-based Shell, Italy’s Eni, and Russia’s Rosneft and Lukoil.

Between Jan. 1 and Nov. 21, shipments from the CPC export terminal reached nearly 1.6 million b/d, up from an average 1.36 million b/d shipped to global markets in 2024.