Ukrainian Defense Minister, Stepan Poltorak, met with the U.S., Ambassador to Ukraine Marie Yovanovitch. The head of the Ministry of Defense explained the Ukrainian government’s position regarding the imposition of the martial law, reports the press service of the Ministry.

“The imposition of the martial law is a necessary preventive measure in case Russia conducts a full-scale land military operation against Ukraine,” said the minister, adding that army should check its readiness to respond …

President Petro Poroshenko stated that after the Russian border guards captured Ukrainian ships in the Kerch Strait, he tried to hold a telephone conversation with Russian President Vladimir Putin. However, there was no response from the Russian side.

“I requested a conversation with the Russian President Putin at night, but we did not receive an answer,” Poroshenko said in an interview with Ukrainian television channels on Tuesday evening.

The Ukrainian President also said that because of …

The EU is considering imposing additional sanctions on Russia due to a recent incident in the Black Sea in which Russian border guards fired on and seized three Ukrainian military boats, injuring three sailors, as announced on Tuesday by Austrian Foreign Minister Karin Kneissl, following talks with her German colleague Heiko Maas.

“We’ll see about the issue of further sanctions. Everything depends on this examination of the facts,” said Kneissl, as cited by Bloomberg.

Kneissl noted that the …

Ukraine does not sever diplomatic ties with Russia because they are "formal", stated Ukrainian Foreign Minister Pavlo Klimkin.

“In fact, there are no diplomatic ties with Russia. This is just a formality since our diplomats in Russia are actually not able to carry out any diplomatic activity in the aggressor country. They are solely focused on helping Ukrainians, including political prisoners. We have always proceeded from this position,” he said.

According to the minister, Ukrainians who are …

Russia has amassed roughly 500 tactical military planes and 340 helicopters along its border with Ukraine, Ukrinform reports, citing Vadym Skibitsky, spokesperson for the Main Intelligence Directorate of the Ukrainian Defense Ministry. He presented this data at a briefing titled “A military and strategic appraisal of the threat of the Russian Armed Forces invading Ukraine”.

According to Skibitsky, since 2013, Russia has been upgrading its airfield network along the border with Ukraine, and has …