Putin Hopes Berlin Will Influence Kiev Regarding Situation in Kerch Strait

MOSCOW- Russian President Vladimir Putin expressed hope in the telephone conversation with German Chancellor Angela Merkel that Germany will influence Ukraine regarding the situation in the Kerch Strait to keep Kiev from making rash decisions, the Kremlin press service reported.

“Vladimir Putin provided an assessment of the Ukrainian side’s provocative actions, gross violation of norms of international law when its [Ukraine’s] military ships deliberately ignored the rules of peaceful passage through territorial waters of the Russian Federation,” the press service said, according to Itar Tass.

“Vladimir Putin expressed hope that Berlin will influence the Ukrainian authorities and keep them from making further hasty decisions,” the press service added.

The Russian president expressed his concern over Kiev’s decision to bring its military forces into full combat readiness and declare martial law. “It was emphasized that the Ukrainian leadership bears full responsibility for creating another conflict situation and for risks associated with it. All of this was evidently undertaken with Ukraine’s election campaign in mind,” the Kremlin press service said.

Putin also noted that Russian Border Service will be ready to provide additional clarifications on how the situation in the Kerch Strait developed.

On November 25 three warships of the Ukrainian Navy violated the rules of passage through Russia’s territorial waters while en route from the Black Sea to the Azov Sea. The Russian side had to use weapons to compel the ships to stop. Three Ukrainian servicemen were lightly wounded. They received medical assistance. The ships were detained and escorted to the port of Kerch. A criminal case was initiated on border violation charges.

The Russian side described the incident as a provocation. The Ukrainian authorities declared martial law. The EU and NATO called for de-escalation of the situation, Tass said.

UNSC not helping resolve problem around Kerch Strait incident: Polyansky

Russia’s First Deputy Permanent Representative to the UN Dmitry Polyansky told the UNSC emergency session on Monday that the United Nations Security Council (UNSC) is not helping resolve the problem around the Kerch Strair incident.

The UNSC has earlier rejected the Russian-proposed agenda for the meeting on Ukraine’s violation of the Russian state border in the Sea of Azov.

“You are now more concerned not with how to resolve the problem, but with which agenda to pick for today’s session,” Polyansky said. “To be honest, this reminds of the confrontation on the playground.”

According to the diplomat, the confrontation in the Kerch Strait “has been planned in advance with absolute connivance of Western countries, which already gave de facto permission to their Kiev mentees for any actions.”

“As we are getting closer to [Ukrainian presidential] election scheduled for March, the bankrupt Maidan team needs a serious escalation, and ideally war,” the diplomat said adding that without this, they will not be reelected. “Another dose of ‘anti-Russian fever’ is needed so that people, who have been becoming poorer over the last five years, believe once again that Russia is to blame for all their misfortunes, not their government and their Western ‘puppeteers’,” Polyansky said.

The diplomat advised “not to worry” about Russia’s state borders. “Our country has never struck first, but can defend itself. The population of Crimea is under good protection, just like the populations of other Russian regions,” he assured.

Addressing his Western colleagues, Polyansky said that their five-year “anti-Russian political project , which could simply be called ‘Anti-Russia’, is currently crumbling in front of everybody.” “You all know very well the real, not declared rates of ‘Maidan reforms’ and other dangerous and destructive processes that push Ukraine closer to the edge,” he added.

Russian diplomat at UN calls Ukraine’s actions “flagrant provocation”

Polyansky also said that Russia considers the violation of its state border by Ukrainian ships as a flagrant provocation.

“This is evidently a flagrant provocation,” Polyansky said addressing UN SC member states that supported Ukraine. “However, you consciously condone this provocation. Your actions on supporting Ukraine have already led to the escalation of the situation in eastern Ukraine,” he added.

The issue is that Ukrainians, while using the navigation regime in the Kerch Strait without any problems before, staged an obvious provocation, putting the lives of their sailors in danger,” he noted. “Nobody tried to answer this question, it was not even mentioned once. This can be perceived as permission granted to Ukraine to continue such provocations, to fan tensions, to create a threat for everybody in this region,” Polyansky said.

“It was mentioned here that Ukraine’s sovereignty should be respected. Well, the sovereignty of the Russian Federation should be respected as well,” he stressed.

“What concerns the incident itself, the investigation continues, and we will, of course, announce its results,” Polyansky concluded.

H.M