Brazen hypocrisy: calling for sanctions while lining Putin's pockets

What does the Russian oil tanker sailing under the flag of Cyprus regularly bring to Rotterdam? Western countries are hypocritically lying to EU citizens about sanctions, while they are doing business with the Russians, lining the pockets of Putin at war.

WORLD POLITICS JANUARY 21. 2024 12:36

The Russian oil tanker Boris Sokolov arrived in Rotterdam harbour in recent days. Data on the shipping portal vesselfinder.com reveal that the vessel has made at least five trips between the port of Sabetta on Russia’s Yamal Peninsula and Rotterdam in recent months. Although it is not exactly known what cargo it carries, the West – calling for sanctions foaming at the mouth – is brazenly and hypocritically doing business with warring Russia. In so doing, they are financing Vladimir Putin’s war ambitions.

The ship left Rotterdam again a few days ago for a destination yet unknown.


Boris Sokolov is owned by Hai Kuo Shipping 1721 Ltd, registered in Cyprus in 2017. According to available company information, the shipping company is managed by four Chinese officials. The tanker, which can carry 52,000 tonnes of crude oil, was built in 2018 and currently sails under the flag of Cyprus.

Whatever cargo the Russian vessel is carrying, doing business with Russia seems to be more important to Western countries than maintaining credibility. It’s worth remembering German Chancellor Olaf Scholz blaming Vladimir Putin for Germany’s skyrocketing energy prices and calling for the strictest possible sanctions against Russia hysterically, yet Russian goods do reach Europe.

The Czech Republic also put in an excellent show of hypocrisy when it announced that the country would purchase new-generation Russian fuel for both of its nuclear power plants. Disclosed only in a trade magazine (Neimagazine.com), the news was not widely publicised. The peculiar thing is that a few months ago, Czech officials announced plans to buy nuclear fuel from the United States instead of Russia – but eventually, the Czechs dumped the Americans to line the pockets of the Russian aggressor.

WORLD POLITICS

Tags:

oil, russia, sanctions