SALEKHARD, Russia — President Vladimir V. Putin on Wednesday defended the seizure of a Greenpeace International ship after protests at an oil platform in the Arctic last week but raised questions about whether the activities of the ship’s 30 crew members warranted the piracy charges that Russian authorities said they would pursue.
“I don’t know the details of what happened there,” Putin said, speaking at an global conference on the Arctic here, “obviously they are not pirates. However, formally, they tried to seize our platform.”
Putin’s remarks came as the crew of the ship, the Arctic Sunrise, faced a second day of questioning by investigators in the northern port of Murmansk, where the ship was towed Tuesday morning after being seized by armed border troops dropped by helicopter.
The crew includes citizens of 18 countries, including an American, the ship’s captain.