In an interview on August 13, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said Russia would respond to the West’s actions against Russian ships and would decide which targets to select.
Lavrov said Vladimir Putin had clearly outlined an approach of responding “in kind” to the actions in question. He said Russia was not required to respond in the same waters where the elements deployed by the West were operating.
The Russian minister said the targets could also include vessels serving the interests of countries that had made what Moscow calls a policy of “robbery and piracy” their official state policy. He added that Russia itself would decide how to deal with those ships.