Situation Of Ukrainian Sailors Detained In Kerch Strait Should Be Resolved- Swiss Minister

Situation of Ukrainian Sailors Detained in Kerch Strait Should Be Resolved- Swiss Minister

Swiss Foreign Minister Ignazio Cassis called on Wednesday to resolve the situation around the incident with the Ukrainian sailors detained in the Kerch Strait for violating the Russian border at the end of 2018

MOSCOW (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 19th June, 2019) Swiss Foreign Minister Ignazio Cassis called on Wednesday to resolve the situation around the incident with the Ukrainian sailors detained in the Kerch Strait for violating the Russian border at the end of 2018.

"We [Switzerland] always insist and call for a dialogue, for a balanced solution and for compromise. I would also like to say that now is probably the time to make such a gesture about the situation with the [Ukrainian] sailors who were detained as a result of the Kerch incident. We think that this situation should be resolved. This will be a positive signal. And we use our diplomatic and humanitarian means for this," Cassis at a press conference after the meeting with Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov.

He drew attention to the fact that Switzerland was conducting humanitarian operations in Ukraine and tried to use all its experience "to avoid any escalation of the situation."

"For our part, we would like to stress that on June 6, just recently, the 10th humanitarian column completed its [operation] in Ukraine. And we are the only country that maintains contacts with both sides of the conflict [in eastern Ukraine]. We [Switzerland] always follow the direction of humanitarian processes," he noted.

In November 2018, 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 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.

In late May, the International Tribunal for the Law of the Sea (ITLOS) demanded Moscow to free the Ukrainian sailors and warships. However, the tribunal did not ask for canceling criminal procedures for 24 detained sailors.

Meanwhile, Moscow repeatedly told the ITLOS that it would not take part in the hearings since this tribunal did not have jurisdiction to review Ukraine's claims.