Russian FM says US encouraging provocation between Moscow, Kiev

Moscow says the United States is encouraging provocation between Russia and Ukraine over the recent confrontation off the coast of Crimea and the seizure of three intruding Ukrainian military vessels in Russian waters.

Russia’s Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov told reporters in the Swiss city of Geneva on Wednesday that Washington should mediate between Ukraine and breakaway regions instead of defending Kiev.

The top Russian diplomat pointed out that Ukrainian warships had ignored maritime law on Sunday when they tried to enter the Kerch Strait, aiming to create a scandal for domestic political purposes.

Elsewhere in his remarks, Lavrov asserted that the US encouragement for such acts “saddens me greatly.”

The remarks come after Russian President Vladimir Putin accused his Ukrainian counterpart Petro Poroshenko of orchestrating a naval “provocation” in the Black Sea at the weekend to bolster his popularity ratings before an election next year.

“It was without doubt a provocation,” Putin said on Wednesday. “It was organized by the president ahead of the elections. The president is in fifth place ratings-wise and therefore had to do something. It was used as a pretext to introduce martial law.”

The Russian president, who was speaking at a financial forum in Moscow, said the US-led West was ready to forgive Ukrainian politicians their shortcomings because it bought into the anti-Russian narrative that Kiev was promoting.

Putin asserted that the Ukrainian vessels had clearly been in the wrong.

“Military vessels intruded into Russian territorial waters and did not answer [the border guards] ... What were they supposed to do?” he said.

“They would do the same in your country, this is absolutely obvious,” he told a foreign investor, adding, “These territorial waters were always ours, even before Crimea joined Russia.”

Meanwhile, Russia has planned to deploy more of its advanced S-400 air defense systems to Crimea.

Last week, Russia seized three Ukrainian ships along with 24 sailors. Moscow accuses Ukraine of illegally intruding into the Russian territorial waters. Kiev however, says the ships had a right to pass freely in the area under international law.

Kiev's Western allies have also accused Moscow of using force without justification in the recent naval confrontation through the Kerch Strait in the Azov Sea.

SS