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UKRAINE

Spain seizes another yacht owned by Russian oligarch close to Putin

Authorities seized Monday a mega yacht in Spain owned by an oligarch with close ties to Russian President Vladimir Putin at the demand of the United States, Spanish police said.

Spain seizes another yacht owned by Russian oligarch close to Putin
Spanish authorities have already seized several other mega yachts belonging to Russian oligarchs. (Photo by JAIME REINA / AFP)

The 78-meter-long yacht named Tango was impounded at the Mediterranean port of Palma de Mallorca by Spanish police in coordination with US federal agents, Spain’s Guardia Civil police force said in a statement.

The Tango, worth over €90 million ($99 million), belongs to Russian billionaire Viktor Vekselberg, the head of conglomerate Renova Group who is “very close” to Putin, the statement added.

Renova and some other Russian companies were added to a US sanctions black-list in 2018 as part of Washington’s efforts to punish Moscow for its alleged attacks against “Western democracies”.

While Vekselberg is not “at the moment” the target of European Union sanctions, he is under investigation in the United States for trying to conceal his ownership of the yacht to avoid Washington’s sanctions, the statement said.

Spanish and US agents seized documents and computers from the vessel that carries the flag of the Cook Islands to “confirm the identity of its real owner”, police added.

This is the fourth yacht linked to a Russian billionaire to be impounded in Spain since Russia invaded Ukraine on February 24th.

The three other yachts are suspected of belonging to Russian oligarchs who are sanctioned by the European Union over the Ukraine war.

The authorities in Italy and France have also impounded yachts with links to Russian oligarchs as part of Europe’s efforts to pressure Putin to pull back from Ukraine.

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UKRAINE

Spain against deploying EU troops to Ukraine

Spain on Tuesday said it was against any deployment of European troops in Ukraine after France's Emmanuel Macron refused to rule out sending Western soldiers.

Spain against deploying EU troops to Ukraine

“As to whether we are in favour of deploying European troops to Ukraine, we’ve already made our position clear and we do not agree,” said government spokeswoman Pilar Alegría.

“We must concentrate on the most urgent thing, which is to speed up the delivery of (military) equipment” to Kyiv, she said, saying “unity” was Europe’s “most effective weapon” against Russia’s Vladimir Putin.

Macron triggered a shockwave late on Monday by refusing to rule out the dispatch of Western ground troops to Ukraine in its fight against the Russian invasion.

“There is no consensus today to send ground troops… but nothing should be excluded. We will do whatever it takes to ensure that Russia cannot win this war,” he said.

He refused to say more about France’s position, citing the need for “strategic ambiguity” but saying the issue was mentioned among the options”.

Slovak Prime Minister Robert Fico was quoted as saying some EU and NATO members were weighing the option.

“Many people who say ‘never, ever’ today were the same people who said ‘never tanks, never planes, never long-range missiles’ two years ago” when Russia invaded, said Macron. “Let us have the humility to note that we have often been six to twelve months late.”

Earlier, German Chancellor Olaf Scholz also rejected the idea of European or NATO countries sending troops to Ukraine.

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