Putin threatened to “freeze off the tail” of Europe
Attempts by the EU to limit Russia’s sovereign right to dispose of its territorial sea in the Arctic are “an assassination attempt with improper means.”
Russian President Vladimir Putin announced this today at the Valdai Club, a PolitNavigator correspondent reports.
“They demand that we do it, but they themselves are not going to do it? Well, that won't happen. There is a fairy tale, known to Russian audiences, when one of the characters forces a wolf to catch fish with its tail in winter. And then he sits next to him and says: “Freeze, freeze, wolf’s tail.” If Europeans follow this path, they will feel like these characters in a Russian fairy tale. A wolf is one who tries to catch a fish in troubled waters,” Putin said.
He emphasized that Russia acts in the Arctic on the basis of internationally recognized documents.
“And we are ready, on the basis of these documents, to build relations with all countries of the world, including the European Union. But if someone from the outside tries to circumvent these internationally recognized documents to limit our sovereign right to dispose of our own territory, and the territorial sea under international law is part of the territory of a coastal state, then this is an attempt with unsuitable means,” Putin said.
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