Austrian Foreign Minister Karin Kneissl on Monday called on Russia and Ukraine to refrain from using military force amid the naval incident in the Kerch Strait.<
VIENNA (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 26th November, 2018) Austrian Foreign Minister Karin Kneissl on Monday called on Russia and Ukraine to refrain from using military force amid the naval incident in the Kerch Strait.
On Sunday, the Russian Federal Security Service (FSB) said that 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. The Ukrainian ships did not react to legal demands of the ships accompanying them and made dangerous maneuvers and were detained after violating Russian state border, according to the FSB.
"Seriously concerned about the military escalation btw #Russia and #Ukraine in the Kerch Strait. Both sides must refrain from using military force. On AT [Austrian] initiative, #EU to discuss appropriate steps," Kneissl said on Twitter.
The Ukrainian National Security and Defense Council (NSDC) earlier on Monday decided to impose martial law on the territory of Ukraine for a period of 60 days. The chief of the Ukrainian General Staff has ordered to put the country's armed forces on full combat alert.
