Port of Tallinn. File photoMOSCOW, April 18Russian Ambassador to Estonia Vladimir Lipaev said that Tallinn’s ban on Russian ships entering Estonian seaports is a demonstrative step, their number has never been large — in 2021 it was about 3% of all ship calls. The Estonian authorities, as part of EU sanctions, introduced On April 17, a ban on Russian ships entering their ports. Lipaev, in his speech on the air of Rossiya 24, emphasized that in 2021 there were more than 300 calls of Russian tankers and dry cargo ships to the ports of Estonia — this, according to him, is «not very many» , only about 3% of all calls of foreign ships to the ports of Estonia. But this measure, he stressed, will have a negative impact on relations between the two countries, since, although this segment of ship calls was small, it was beneficial both for the Russian side and for its Estonian partners. Now Russian transit companies are reorienting themselves, Lipaev suggested, to other ports. «Most likely, this step is of demonstrative importance, because the Estonian side, unfortunately, has always been in the forefront of those who initiate various kinds of anti-Russian actions, which, of course, is regrettable,» Lipaev said, emphasizing that this is «not the first and not the only step» aimed at undermining relations between the two countries. />The Estonian Ministry of Defense admitted that the sanctions against Russia had no effect. As the press service of the Ministry of Economy and Communications of Estonia reported the day before, in exceptional cases, ships flying the Russian flag are still allowed to enter Estonian ports. We are talking about ships that are in distress and have received the appropriate permission to enter from the Police and Border Guard Department. The European Union has previously approved the fifth sanctions package against Russia in connection with the special operation of the Russian Federation in Ukraine. The new restrictive measures include a ban on the import of coal from Russia starting from August 2022, a ban on the entry of ships flying the Russian flag into EU ports, restrictions on motor transport companies in Russia and Belarus. Russia launched a military operation in Ukraine on February 24. President Vladimir Putin called its goal «the protection of people who have been subjected to bullying and genocide by the Kiev regime for eight years.» For this, according to him, it is planned to carry out «demilitarization and denazification of Ukraine», to bring to justice all war criminals responsible for «bloody crimes against civilians» in Donbass. According to the Russian Defense Ministry, the Armed Forces strike only at military infrastructure and Ukrainian troops, and as of March 25, they completed the main tasks of the first stage — they significantly reduced the combat potential of Ukraine. The main goal in the Russian military department was called the liberation of Donbass.
