Putin punishes Britain as he rips up treaty that could have huge impact on UK chippys
Putin has torn up a treaty with the UK which allowed British fishermen to catch Russian cod, potentially jeopardising fish and chip shops across the country.
Russia also added that Britons should “lose weight and get smarter”, as they pulled out of the 70-year agreement, in the latest sign of mounting tensions between the East and the West.
The long-standing deal was drawn up in 1956 and signed by Nikita Khruschev. It allowed British boats to fish in the Barents Sea to catch cod and haddock for one of the nation’s favourite dishes.
Russia’s parliamentary speaker Vyacheslav Volodin said: “The British need to study some proverbs – ‘Russians harness the horse slowly, but ride it fast’.”
He said that “the unscrupulous British” had eaten Russian fish for 68 years.
Volodin added: “They announced sanctions against us, but they themselves make 40 per cent of their diet, their fish menu, from our cod.
“Now let them lose weight, get smarter. Because it is cod and other species of fish, including haddock, that form 40 per cent of their diet. And it’s one of their favourite dishes.”
Last year, a British ship caught 556,000 tonnes of cod and haddock in Russian waters, according to Volodin.
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However, the UK Government said the end of the deal would have “no material impact on our fish supplies”.
A UK government spokesperson said: “UK vessels do not fish in these Russian waters so this would have no material impact on our fish supplies, including cod or haddock.
“The UK has not received any official notification from the Russian Federation on this matter.
“Russia’s continued unilateral withdrawal from a number of international cooperation treaties is symptomatic of its self-inflicted isolation on the world stage as a result of its illegal invasion of Ukraine.”
The National Federation of Fish Friers (NFFF) – which represents the UK’s fish and chip industry – shared the same sentiments as the Government.
The NFFF President Andrew Crook told The Sun: “This was just a bit of an attempt by the Russians to look as though they were responding to the sanctions imposed on them by the British Government.
“The move is an act of vengeance for sanctions imposed by Western countries, including the UK, for the ongoing war in Ukraine.”
On Wednesday, the UK imposed sanctions on six people in charge of the Arctic penal colony where Putin’s staunch critic Alexei Navalny died last week.
Last March, Britain excluded Russia from the most favoured nation trading status. They also placed an additional 35 per cent tariff on the import of Russian goods, including vodka and copper.
The UK said this was done to “inflict maximum damage on the Russian economy while minimising negative consequences for the UK”.