Russia: NL to blame for Arctic crisis

On the day of the visit of King Willem-Alexander and Queen Máxima a spokesperson for the Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs blamed the Netherlands for the arrests of Greenpeace activists. A few hours before the meeting of Willem-Alexander and Máxima with President Putin the spokesperson stated at a press briefing that the situation is largely caused by non-intervention of the Dutch state when it was clear the ship was about to enter the Russian economic zone with the intent to engage in illegal activities. Arctic_Sunrise_
Andrew Rivett
Wikimedia commons The Arctic Sunrise sails under the Dutch flag. Russia claims to have repeatedly asked the Netherlands to stop Greenpeace before the Russian Coast Guard boarded. The Russians also irritated by the Dutch pressure to release the thirty people that were on board the Arctic Sunrise . The final decision will be taken by a Russian court, according to the spokesperson. Nevertheless Netherlands continues to insist on the immediate release of all the crew of the Arctic Sunrise. The issue of the Arctic Sunrise and other bottlenecks in the Dutch-Russian relationship will probably not be discussed during the meeting Friday night of the king with President Putin. More likely is they will be addressed by the foreign ministers of Russia and Netherlands, Lavrov and Timmermans Saturday.