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Maersk: Disruptions to Container Shipping via Red Sea Have Expanded

A container ship is seen in the Red Sea. EPA file photo
A container ship is seen in the Red Sea. EPA file photo
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Maersk: Disruptions to Container Shipping via Red Sea Have Expanded

A container ship is seen in the Red Sea. EPA file photo
A container ship is seen in the Red Sea. EPA file photo

Denmark's A.P. Moller-Maersk said on Wednesday that the disruptions to its container shipping via the Red Sea had extended beyond trade routes in far Eastern Europe to its entire ocean network.

"The cascading impact of these disruptions extends beyond the primary affected routes, causing congestion at alternative routes and transshipment hubs essential for trade with Far East Asia, West Central Asia, and Europe," Reuters quoted Maersk as saying in a statement.

Maersk and other shipping companies have diverted vessels around Africa's Cape of Good Hope since December to avoid attacks by Iran-aligned Houthi militias in the Red Sea, with the longer voyage times pushing freight rates higher.

Asian exports are more impacted by the situation than Asian imports, Maersk said, adding that this is primarily due to Asian countries being major global exporters.

Maersk said ocean cargo demand remains robust globally, with air freight, including a sea-air solution being used as an alternative where time-sensitive goods need to be moved quickly.

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Russia's Medvedev Says Ukraine Joining NATO Would Mean War

Russia's Security Council's Deputy Chairman Dmitry Medvedev attends a meeting of the Council for Science and Education at the Joint Institute for Nuclear Research in the Moscow region's city of Dubna, Russia June 13, 2024. Sputnik/Alexei Maishev/Pool via REUTERS./File Photo Purchase Licensing Rights
Russia's Security Council's Deputy Chairman Dmitry Medvedev attends a meeting of the Council for Science and Education at the Joint Institute for Nuclear Research in the Moscow region's city of Dubna, Russia June 13, 2024. Sputnik/Alexei Maishev/Pool via REUTERS./File Photo Purchase Licensing Rights
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Russia's Medvedev Says Ukraine Joining NATO Would Mean War

Russia's Security Council's Deputy Chairman Dmitry Medvedev attends a meeting of the Council for Science and Education at the Joint Institute for Nuclear Research in the Moscow region's city of Dubna, Russia June 13, 2024. Sputnik/Alexei Maishev/Pool via REUTERS./File Photo Purchase Licensing Rights
Russia's Security Council's Deputy Chairman Dmitry Medvedev attends a meeting of the Council for Science and Education at the Joint Institute for Nuclear Research in the Moscow region's city of Dubna, Russia June 13, 2024. Sputnik/Alexei Maishev/Pool via REUTERS./File Photo Purchase Licensing Rights

Former Russian President Dmitry Medvedev said the accession of Ukraine to NATO would be a declaration of war against Moscow and only "prudence" on behalf of the alliance could prevent the planet being shattered into pieces.

The leaders of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization pledged at their summit last week to support Ukraine on an "irreversible path to full Euro-Atlantic integration, including NATO membership," but left open when that membership could happen.

Medvedev, deputy chairman of Russia's Security Council and a leading voice among the Kremlin's hawks, told the news outlet Argumenty I Fakty that Ukraine's membership would go beyond a direct threat to Moscow's security.

"This, in essence, would be a declaration of war - albeit with a delay," he said in remarks published on Wednesday, Reuters reported.

"The actions that Russia's opponents have been taking against us for years, expanding the alliance ... take NATO to the point of no return."

In a standard Kremlin line since Moscow's full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022, Medvedev said Russia did not threaten NATO but would respond to the alliance's attempts to advance its interests.

"The more such attempts there are, the harsher our answers will become," Medvedev said. "Whether this will shatter the entire planet into pieces depends solely on the prudence of (NATO) side."

Medvedev also reiterated Moscow's line that the appointment of Mark Rutte as the head of NATO will not change the alliance's stance.

"For Russia, nothing will change, since key decisions are made not by NATO member countries, but by one state - the United States," Medvedev said.

NATO was created after World War Two as a defensive bullwark against a feared Soviet invasion of western Europe, but its subsequent inclusion of countries in eastern Europe has been viewed by the Kremlin as an act of aggression.