The Russian Transport Ministry has elaborated measures in response to Ukraine's possible suspension of train and bus services with Russia, but hopes that it will not be forced to implement them, Russian Transport Minister Yevgeny Ditrikh said on Tuesday.
MURMANSK (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 14th August, 2018) The Russian Transport Ministry has elaborated measures in response to Ukraine's possible suspension of train and bus services with Russia, but hopes that it will not be forced to implement them, Russian Transport Minister Yevgeny Ditrikh said on Tuesday.
On August 6, Ukrainian Infrastructure Minister Volodymyr Omelyan said that he considered the possibility of suspending train services with Russia. A day later, First Deputy Permanent Representative of the President of Ukraine in the Autonomous Republic of Crimea Izet Gdanov suggested suspending the bus services as well.
"The Transport Ministry has examined this issue and our possible counter measures ... We expect that it won't come to their implementation, as such measures will first of all imply the Russian and the Ukrainian citizens' inability to use transport services. It won't result in anything else but inconveniences and discomfort," Ditrikh said.
He added that he considered it "precocious" to go into detail on the possible measures.
The bilateral relations between the neighboring countries have been tense over the past few years, following former Ukrainian President Viktor Yanukovych's overthrow in 2014, Crimea rejoining Russia as well as the start of the Donbas conflict.
Direct flights between the countries have been suspended since 2015.
