US Blocks G-7 Shadow Fleet Initiative: A Bold Move Towards Transformation!
By Donato Paolo Mancini, Samy Adghirni, and Laura Dhillon Kane
March 8, 2025 (Bloomberg) – The United States has turned down a canadian initiative aimed at forming a task force too address the issue of Russia’s so-called shadow fleet of oil tankers. This decision comes as the Trump administration reassesses its stance within various multilateral organizations,according to sources familiar with the discussions.
This year, Canada is presiding over the G-7 and will host a summit for foreign ministers in Charlevoix, Québec next week. During talks to draft a unified statement on maritime concerns, U.S. representatives are advocating for stronger language regarding China while diluting references to Russia. Sources who requested anonymity due to the sensitive nature of these discussions revealed this information.
The phrase “shadow fleet” refers to older oil tankers that have been hidden from view in order to bypass Western sanctions imposed on Moscow following its full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022.
For further reading: China and India Scramble for Crude as Sanctioned Russian Tankers Turn Back
In addition to rejecting Canada’s proposal for a monitoring task force aimed at sanction violations, the draft G-7 statement reviewed by Bloomberg News indicates that U.S. officials sought to eliminate mentions of “sanctions” entirely and rather replaced phrases about Russia’s capacity to sustain its military actions in Ukraine with terms like “generate revenue.”
When discussing maritime safety and security issues, U.S. representatives insisted on directly naming China by highlighting threats posed by its attempts at enforcing illegal maritime claims along with aggressive aerial activities specifically related to the South China Sea.
The Ongoing Negotiation Landscape
The finalization of G-7 communiques requires consensus among member nations; thus negotiations may lead to considerable alterations before or during the upcoming summit.
