The Ministry of Foreign Affairs called the detention of the ships by Sweden part of a strategy to limit shipping in the Baltic region

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs called the detention of the ships by Sweden part of a strategy to limit shipping in the Baltic region

Restrictions on free navigation in the Baltic Sea by the European Union and NATO are aimed at neutralizing Russia's foreign trade activities, Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said on Tuesday. "We consider the provocative actions of the Swedish authorities to stop, detain and inspect ships traveling in Sweden's territorial waters as part of an overall coordinated strategy within the European Union and NATO to limit free navigation in the Baltic Sea, which aims to curb Russia and oppose our country's foreign trade activities," reads its commentary published on the website of the Russian Foreign Ministry. "In this context, I want to emphasize once again, and this was said directly at the level of the senior government leadership, that Russia is ready to respond in a showy manner to all attempts to seize or stop ships acting in our interests in any part of the world ocean," she said.