Contents tagged with Kerch Strait

  • Russia announces end of civil and military cooperation with NATO

    Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs Alexander Grushko told the Russian media that Kremlin is suspending cooperation with NATO along military and civil lines.

    The Deputy Minister, who had previously worked as the permanent representative of the Russian Federation to the Alliance said, “NATO itself has refused to adopt a positive agenda for its relationship with Russia. It just does not exist. And so far, there is no sign that anyone in NATO knows how to get out from this dead-end.”  

    “NATO has …

  • Defence Minister Poltorak: Ukraine will continue sending its ships through the Kerch Strait

    Ukrainian ships will continue navigation through the Kerch Strait, stated Ukrainian Defence Minister Stepan Poltorak during the 12th Kyiv Security Forum. The Defense Minister stated that abandoning the navigation through the Kerch strait would mean that Ukraine surrenders the Sea of Azov and its territory.

    “We will carry out the navigation through the Kerch Strait, because if we abandon such voyages, it will mean that we abandon the Sea of Azov and our territory,” said Stepan Poltorak. …

  • Russia threatens Kyiv with war if Ukrainian ships attempt to pass through the Kerch Strait

    In a statement released by the Federation Council, Moscow threatened to take military action against Kyiv for violating procedures for the passage of Ukrainian Navy ships through the Kerch Strait, reports TASS.

    Russia believes that the passage of ships through the Kerch Strait is not a question of NATO’s presence in the Black Sea, but of Ukraine’s fulfillment of its obligations “which are well established and have been successfully implemented since November 2018,” that is, before the Russian …

  • EU, Canada and US accuse Russia of restricting navigation through the Kerch Strait

    The European Union countries, Canada and the United States condemn the inspections of the ships conducted by Russia in the Kerch Strait, as well as navigation restrictions caused by the construction of the Kerch Strait bridge, reported the Embassy of Ukraine in the United Kingdom.

     The statement was made after the International Maritime Organization (IMO) reviewed Ukraine’s complaint about “unauthorized construction and opening by Russia of a bridge across the Kerch Strait as well as the …

  • Ukrainian President presents awards to the sailors detained by Russia in the Kerch Strait

    President of Ukraine Petro Poroshenko presented awards to the families of sailors detained by Russian border guards in the Kerch Strait. This was stated by the head of state on Twitter.

    "While visiting the Odessa oblast I have awarded the Ukrainian servicemen, who are now in captivity in Russia," wrote Poroshenko on Twitter. He added that the sailors should be returned to Ukraine along with the seized armored boats and the tugboat.

    On 25 November last year, Russia attacked and captured the …

  • NATO to guarantee safe passage for Ukrainian ships through Kerch Strait

    The North-Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) plans to take steps to ensure that Ukrainian ships have safe passage through the Kerch Strait, US Ambassador to NATO Kay Bailey Hutchison told foreign reporters on Tuesday 2 April.

    Hutchison confirmed that a corresponding package of measures should be approved during a two-day conference in Washington starting on Wednesday.

    “The package will step up aerial surveillance, and will involve sending more NATO ships to the Black Sea in order to …

  • German Foreign Minister: Russia's annexation of Crimea a ‘fatal violation of international law’

    On the anniversary of the Crimea’s annexation by Russia, German Foreign Minister Heiko Maas deplored Russia’s actions in the peninsula. “This fatal violation of law is now in its fifth year. Russia tried to shift boundaries by resorting to military force. Those who act like this destroy trust and put in question basic principles of peaceful coexistence,” Maas stated on Twitter.

    Earlier, the Foreign Ministry of the Czech Republic stated that although the Crimea has been annexed by Russia, it is …

  • Russian Foreign Ministry: Western sanctions against Russia are ‘hypocritical'

    On Saturday, Moscow condemned the “hypocrisy” of new Western sanctions imposed against a number of Russian officials because of their involvement in the seizure of Ukrainian vessels in the Kerch Strait last year. The Kremlin warned that Russia will respond to the Western states’ actions.

    On Friday, the United States, Canada and the European Union introduced new sanctions against more than a dozen Russian officials and companies in response to the ongoing Moscow’s aggression against Ukraine.

    “ …

  • Russia promises ‘a practical response’ to new U.S. and Canadian sanctions

    The Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Russian Federation responded to the new sanctions against Russia, imposed by the US and Canada because of Moscow’s actions against Ukraine, promising a “practical response”, which “will certainly ensue”.

    "At the same time for everyone except, perhaps, the authors of such decisions, it is obvious that the sanctions, no matter how many, do not lead to the desired results for the United States and Canada. By believing in their own infallibility, they …

  • Stoltenberg: NATO will continue to support Ukraine

    In the annual report published on NATO’s website on March 14, 2019, NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg  stated the members of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization reaffirm their decisions regarding Ukraine’s desire to join the alliance.

    “In light of Ukraine’s restated aspirations for NATO membership, the Allies also stand by their decisions taken at the Bucharest Summit and subsequent Summits,” stated the section “NATO’s Open Door.”

    The NATO Secretary General recalls that the Alliance …