Ukraine Calls for Sanctions on Russia Over Kerch Strait Incident - Lawmaker
Ukraine calls on foreign countries to impose additional sanctions on Russia over the situation in the Sea of Azov and the Kerch Strait incident, First Deputy Speaker of the Ukrainian Parliament Iryna Herashchenko said on Tuesday
"Ukraine calls on partner states to impose the Azov package of sanctions on Russia. The president [Petro Poroshenko] has already started this work, calling on his colleagues to impose such sanctions," Herashchenko wrote on her Facebook page.
The deputy speaker pointed out that Ukraine was demanding immediate unconditional release of the Ukrainian sailors detained in Russia.
She also reaffirmed Ukraine's readiness to swap 22 Russian citizens detained in Ukraine for the Ukrainian citizens jailed in Russia, such as filmmaker Oleg Sentsov.
On November 25, Ukraine's Berdyansk and Nikopol gunboats and the Yany Kapu tugboat illegally crossed the Russian maritime border as they sailed toward the Kerch Strait, the entrance to the Sea of Azov. Russia seized the Ukrainian vessels and detained 24 crew members after they failed to respond to a demand to stop. After the incident, a criminal case on illegal border crossing was opened in Russia.
Russian President Vladimir Putin said that the incident was a provocation prepared in advance as a pretext to introduce martial law. Putin said the provocation could be linked to Ukrainian President Poroshenko's low approval ratings ahead of the presidential election.