BRUSSELS (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 26th November, 2018) The European Union calls on Russia and Ukraine to act with maximum restraint in the situation around the Kerch Strain, EU foreign policy spokesperson Maja Kocijancic said on Sunday.
On Sunday, three ships of the Ukrainian Navy, in violation of Articles 19 and 21 of the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea, crossed the Russian sea border, entered the temporarily closed area of the Russian territorial waters and were moving from the Black Sea toward the Kerch Strait, according to the Russian Federal Security Service (FSB). Another group of ships was heading for the Kerch Strait from the Azov Sea port of Berdyans'k. The Kerch Strait, which links Black and Azov seas, was closed on Sunday for civilian ships for security reasons. Later the same day, the FSB reported that the same three ships of the Ukrainian Navy � Berdyansk, Nikopol and Yany Kapu � had been detained after violating Russian state border. The Ukrainian ships did not react to legal demands of the ships accompanying them and made dangerous maneuvers, the FSB noted.
"The tensions in the Azov Sea and Kerch Strait have increased dangerously today. ... We expect Russia to restore freedom of passage at the Kerch strait and urge all to act with utmost restraint to de-escalate the situation immediately," the statement says.
It confirmed the position of the EU foreign policy chief that the EU expected Russia to stop inspections of the vessels.
Earlier on Sunday, Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova called Ukrainian ships' violation of Russian sea border "gangster methods," commenting on the situation in the Kerch Strait.
