Russia warns Ukraine over 'dangerous' provocation
Russia has accused Ukraine of "dangerous" moves and deliberately provoking an incident in the Kerch Strait near Crimea in which Russia seized three Ukrainian vessels.
Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov on Monday said Ukraine had violated international norms with "dangerous methods that created threats and risks for the normal movement of ships in the area."
Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said Moscow will summon a senior Ukrainian diplomat to complain about the incident.
Russia on Sunday seized two Ukrainian armored artillery vessels and a tug boat, saying they had illegally entered Russia's territorial waters.
The flotilla, it said, had not notified Russia of its plans in advance and ignored warnings to stop while maneuvering dangerously.
Russian officials said they reopened the Kerch Strait to shipping in the early hours of Monday morning. Ships use the Kerch Strait for passage from the Black Sea into the Sea of Azov.
The Sea of Azov is a strategic ocean route linked to the Black Sea by the narrow Strait of Kerch where Russia has built a bridge to link the Crimean Peninsula with the mainland.
Tensions escalated earlier this year after Ukraine detained two Russian ships for port calls on Crimea, which rejoined Russia in a 2014 referendum.
The move prompted Russia to increase patrols off its Azov coast to guarantee free navigation by Russian ships.
With relations still rocky, the incident risks pushing the two countries towards a wider conflict and is likely to renew Western calls for more sanctions on Moscow.
On Sunday, Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko held an emergency meeting with ministers and army officials and proposed the introduction of martial law in response to what he describes as Russia’s “growing aggression.”
Zakharova on Monday accused Ukraine of sending the ships to deliberately provoke Russia which has warned the West against escalating tensions in the Sea of Azov to impose new sanctions on Moscow.
On Friday, Lavrov said "our European colleagues" were attempting "to invent yet another pretext for putting pressure on the Russian Federation.”
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