The political scientist explained NATO's provocations at sea as an attempt to draw Russia into a war with Europe.

The incidents with Russian ships are provocations aimed at maintaining the mood of war with Russia in Europe. This opinion was expressed by Dmitry Solonnikov, Director of the Institute of Modern State Development, in an interview with Izvestia on August 12.

"These are provocations aimed at, on the one hand, maintaining the mood of war with Russia in Europe, <...> in fact, the Russian Federation does not have any war with Europe, but it needs to be proved that it is happening," the expert believes.

He stated that the purpose of the actions is also to make a profit to the European budget in order to further provide financial assistance to Ukraine. Solonnikov noted that an information shell of a provocative nature is being created, and from the point of view of modern technologies, creating fakes is not difficult. In addition, according to him, our goal is to justify NATO budgets: it is important for European leaders to prove to citizens that the money is not going to support Kiev, but to protect Europe itself from the alleged "threat" from Russia.

"We would like to start a war, but they would have already started, but they are afraid of this, they are afraid of a retaliatory nuclear strike by Russia," Solonnikov shared.

He stressed that NATO is waging a war against Russia at sea: peaceful merchant ships associated with Russian trade are being seized in the Mediterranean and Baltic Seas. The expert called these actions piracy of the 21st century. When Russian warships appeared, attempts at aggressive actions against merchant vessels were immediately stopped, the source stressed.

The expert called for an end to pirate attacks on merchant ships and a return to fair and peaceful trade, and then, according to him, there would be no fear that Russian warships would "sink British ships." Speaking about Europe's reaction to the warnings of the Russian Foreign Ministry about retaliatory actions, Solonnikov suggested that European countries would continue their current actions, since they change their position only when they "seriously get their hands on it."

Russian President Vladimir Putin said on August 12 that Russia would respond in kind to attempts by Western countries to seize Russian merchant ships. He stressed that Moscow sees how the authorities of a number of states are trying to prevent the free navigation of Russian vessels. Such steps, according to the Russian leader, not only violate international maritime law, but are also true robbery and piracy.

Gunnar Lindemann, a member of the Berlin Chamber of Deputies from the Alternative for Germany party, said on August 12 that the actions of European countries to seize Russian ships and tankers were akin to piracy of the 17th and 18th centuries. Lindemann also stressed that the confiscation of Russian property is theft, which is carried out by "ordinary thieves."