Contents tagged with crimea

  • Ukrainian Foreign Minister: NATO intends to increase its presence in the Black Sea

    NATO countries will soon take steps in response to Russia’s aggression against Ukraine in the Kerch Strait. One of the elements of the response is strengthening the presence of the Alliance in the Black Sea, stated Ukrainian Foreign Minister Pavlo Klimkin.

    "NATO should strengthen its presence in the Black Sea region. How they do it is the issue of further negotiations and you will hear about some of them soon. The important thing is the presence of the NATO ships. This will be done very …

  • Kerch Strait crisis: 34 member countries of International Maritime Organization support Ukraine

    Ukraine protested at the International Maritime Organization (IMO) Committee for Maritime Safety because of the armed attack on Ukrainian military boats. The Ukrainian Embassy in the UK reported  that 34 IMO member countries supported Ukraine’s position.

    "The Ukrainian government has condemned numerous instances of discriminatory inspections of vessels traveling to Ukrainian ports, which are a violation of the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea and bilateral Ukrainian-Russian agreements. …

  • Stoltenberg: NATO increases presence in the Black Sea and is watching Russia

    NATO is closely monitoring the security situation in the Black Sea and increases its military presence in the region, NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg said at a press conference in Brussels.

    “NATO has increased its military presence in the Black Sea region. With more naval presence. Last year the number of days with NATO ships or ships on the NATO command in the Black Sea increased from 80 to 120 and there are also, of course, NATO Allies which have deployed ships in the Black Sea …

  • Russian border guards who seized Ukrainian ships will receive an award

    A chairman for the Russian State Duma, Vyacheslav Volodin, stated that the Russian Parliament is preparing a proposal to award the border guards who attacked and seized Ukrainian ships in neutral waters near the Kerch Strait on November 25th.

    “For our part, we requested that the committee on security and anti-corruption consider rewarding border guards involved in preventing a violation of our borders and protecting the law,” reports Interfax quoting Volodin. Suggestions must be ready for the …

  • Ukrainian President: we need our allies help to hold back Russia in the Black Sea

    Ukraine needs an increased naval presence of Germany and allies in the Black Sea. It could serve as a deterrent to Russia, Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko said in an interview with the German Funke Media Group, the president's press service reported.

    “We need a strong, unified, unambiguous reaction to Russia’s aggressive behavior. We must prevent Nord Stream 2. We have to consider imposing new sanctions now,” Poroshenko said.

    The Ukrainian President said that Russia's aggressive actions …

  • Putin: Russia will not impose mirror restrictions for entry of Ukrainian citizens

    Russia will not impose response measures against the entry of Ukrainian citizens, stated Russian President Vladimir Putin during a press-conference following the G20 Summit in Buenos Aires, the press-service of the Kremlin reports.

    "We are not going to impose any restrictions against Ukrainian citizens. Moreover, on the contrary, we will move towards easing the requirements for the visits of Ukrainian citizens in our territory and easing the procedure for obtaining Russian citizenship, if they …

  • American aircraft conduct reconnaissance flights near Crimea

    On Sunday, the RQ-4B Global Hawk, a strategic unmanned aerial vehicle or UAV of the US Air Force carried out an eight-hour reconnaissance flight near the Black Sea coast of Russia, flying near the Crimea, the Kerch Strait and Kuban, Interfax reports, citing the monitoring data of Western aviation portals.

    Later in the afternoon, a US Navy P-8A Poseidon patrol plane joined it. Both aircraft took off from Sigonella Naval Air Station in Sicily, Italy. Both aircraft which can conduct electronic …

  • Ukrainian President: Putin ignores request for telephone conversation about Kerch crisis

    In an interview with France 24, Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko said that Russian President Vladimir Putin has not yet responded to his request to have a telephone conversation about the crisis at the Sea of Azov. Poroshenko, reports the presidential press service.

    The President of Ukraine stressed that when the attack on the Ukrainian ships in the Kerch Strait occurred, he instructed his officials to contact the President of Russia, Putin.

    “Unfortunately, so far Putin has not responded …

  • Kremlin: Russia is 'protecting' Europe from aggression

    Maria Zakharova, official spokesperson for the Russian Foreign Ministry, said on Facebook that Russia is “protecting Europe from aggression”.

    “After Poroshenko said that Russia supposedly intends to capture Mariupol and Berdyansk, one can paraphrase his utterance with certainty: it is Russia that is protecting Europe from the barbarism, tyranny, terrorism, aggression and militarism that loom over our entire continent,” Zakharova wrote.

    At the same time, in an interview for the program “Moscow. …

  • Russia asks Ukraine to cancel the ban on entry for men

    Adviser to the Russian President and Chairman of the Presidential Council for Civil Society and Human Rights Mikhail Fedotov appealed to the Commissioner for Human Rights in Ukraine, Lyudmyla Denisova, asking to influence the Ukrainian authorities to cancel the ban on entry for men aged 16 to 60 with Russian passports, Interfax reports.

    “I ask you, dear Lyudmyla Leontiivna, to use your authority as the main protector of human rights in Ukraine to reconsider this ban,” Fedotov said in his …