Capture zone: Canada joined the European Union's attacks on ships from the Russian Federation

Canada is helping European countries to detain tankers allegedly carrying Russian oil and gas, Russian Ambassador to Ottawa Oleg Stepanov told Izvestia. In particular, the Canadian authorities transmit information to the European allies and carry out maritime monitoring. The diplomat stressed that the Russian Federation is completely indifferent to Canadian restrictions. Experts believe that Ottawa does not have enough military resources to participate in the detention of tankers. But Canada hopes to gain new markets due to the conflict in the Middle East. Why the country is set to strengthen sanctions against Moscow, unlike the United States, which has gone to ease, is in the Izvestia article.

Canada blacklists ships

Europe is increasing the practice of detaining ships that are allegedly used "in the interests of Russia." The Swedish Coast Guard has intercepted tankers en route to Russian ports twice in a month. Brussels welcomes the seizure of foreign tankers with Russian oil by EU states and considers these actions to be the most effective means of putting pressure on Russia, said the head of the European Diplomacy, Kaya Kallas. She called on other countries to join the actions of the Europeans and not weaken sanctions against the Russian oil industry, as the United States had previously done.

Canada is working closely with the EU to combat ships carrying Russian cargo, Russian Ambassador to Ottawa Oleg Stepanov told Izvestia.

— There is no talk about willingness to engage in piracy here yet. And they probably won't. But one cannot ignore the fact that Ottawa continues to work closely with the Europeans on this subject. Participates in the exchange of information and monitoring of maritime transport," the diplomat said.

Immediately after the start of its operation in February 2022, Ottawa officially closed its ports and internal waters to ships flying the Russian flag. The entire range of shipping-related services (insurance, freight, maintenance) also fell under the embargo.

— Formally, it was not only about ships registered in Russia, but also about those that, according to Ottawa, were used in the interests of Russia. Since February 2025, the Maple leafs have been working on those ships that were given the name "shadow fleet" in the West. Although there is no such thing," the ambassador said.

Charged water: will Iran mine the Strait of Hormuz

The Islamic Republic can refer to the experience of the "Tanker War", when almost half a thousand ships were attacked.

Canada continues to blacklist ships, their number has reached 510. At the same time, the kingdom's authorities lowered the price ceiling for Russian oil to $44.10 per barrel. However, these measures have no impact on Russia.

— It is clear that these measures are "paper", our country is completely indifferent. But they help the official Ottawa to prove its importance in the club of Western Russophobes," Oleg Stepanov emphasized.

Canada will take part in the detention of tankers only if it is confident that such actions are unpunished and there are no threats to its warships and military personnel, Evgeny Khoroshilov, head of the economic research department at the Institute of the United States of America and Canada (ISKRAN), told Izvestia.

— It should also be borne in mind that the Canadian Navy, according to their own estimates, is in a deplorable state. The head of the Canadian Navy, Vice Admiral Angus Topshi, described this condition as critical two and a half years ago. The situation has not changed much since then," the expert emphasized.

In his opinion, Canadian participation in the "Russian naval blockade coalition" is unlikely to greatly strengthen the latter. It is unlikely that Canada will play a leading role in the hunt for ships.

Ottawa may refrain from direct military actions also for the reason that China and India buy oil from these tankers, and it is with these two countries that Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney is seeking to improve relations in the face of strained relations with the United States after Trump's election to a second presidential term, the presenter noted in an interview with Izvestia. ISKRAN researcher Dmitry Volodin.

Russian officials have repeatedly called the detentions of tankers an act of violation of international law and piracy. Nikolai Patrushev, Assistant to the President and chairman of the Maritime Board, said earlier that the Russian Navy is already fulfilling the tasks of protecting maritime trade.

How oil markets will change due to the conflict in the Middle East

At the same time, the rise in world oil prices is beneficial to Canada as an exporting country, which ranks fourth in the world in terms of production of this energy resource, the Russian ambassador to Ottawa told Izvestia.

— Given the current difficult situation in a number of sectors of the Canadian economy due to US tariff pressure, Ottawa is now seeking to compensate for losses by expanding cooperation with other trading partners, including in the energy sector. Of course, Ottawa will not miss the opportunity to make some money on the escalation of the situation in the Middle East," Oleg Stepanov emphasized.

According to him, the Canadian federal authorities are negotiating with the provinces and oil producing companies about the volume and timing of such a plan. These steps are presented as a gesture of goodwill and Ottawa's desire to extend a helping hand to Western allies, primarily in Europe, faced with an acute shortage of energy resources.

— Along the way, European partners are being told that they need to switch to "reliable and value-sharing" suppliers of hydrocarbons, to which Canada considers itself. In contrast, Russia is being portrayed as a strategic adversary using oil revenues to finance "armed aggression against Ukraine," Stepanov said.

Canada can replace Middle Eastern oil for some countries only by redirecting supplies from its other customers. The country's oil industry has reached record production figures, is operating at the limit of its capabilities and in the short term has virtually no potential either to increase production or to increase oil supplies abroad, Evgeny Khoroshilov emphasized.

— Canada's only export pipeline, which allows the supply of oil from the west coast of the country outside the United States, is already almost 90% loaded. With any significant increase in production, additional pipeline and export terminal capacities will be required, and these capacities simply do not exist in nature yet," the expert noted.

Full drawdown: the EU and the Gulf states will lose the most from the conflict

How will the military confrontation in the Middle East affect the United States and Russia

Dmitry Volodin also pointed out the difference in the composition of the oil produced: in Canada we are talking about heavy oil, while in the Middle East there is a lot of light oil. At the same time, Canada and Russia are not considered competitors in this market, since the kingdom sells almost all of its oil to the United States, where Russia has not supplied these products since 2022. Canada's oil exports to Asia have been growing since 2024, but these volumes are not yet enough to talk about serious competition. In the future, Canada may become more active in the liquefied natural gas market in this region, as the country's authorities are currently actively working on the construction of LNG plants specifically for Asia.

This is probably why Canada has one of the toughest positions in the G7 towards the Russian energy sector. However, Western sanctions do not significantly affect the level of production and export of energy resources of the Russian Federation. At the same time, Russia is considering whether it should proactively stop supplying hydrocarbons to the European market, Russian Presidential spokesman Dmitry Peskov said at a briefing. Moscow prefers to deal with reliable partners and continues to expand their circle. In particular, Thailand and Sri Lanka are ready to start negotiations on oil supplies.