European Union countries, NATO and the United States called on Russia to restore freedom of passage for ships in the Kerch Strait and return the ships captured on Saturday to Ukraine. An urgently convened meeting of the UN Security Council ended without the adoption of any resolutions, reports BBC News.
The incident at the Kerch Strait on Sunday evening was another aggravation of the conflict between Ukraine and Russia, which annexed the Crimea in 2014, and later built a bridge across the Kerch Strait onto the peninsula.
The urgent convocation of the UN Security Council due to the incident in the Kerch Strait was requested on Monday by both Ukraine and Russia, who accuse each other of provocation.
Kiev claims that two armored boats and a tug went from Odessa to Mariupol through the Kerch Strait and warned the Russians in advance, and Moscow said that the Ukrainians had broken the border.
Members of the UN Security Council did not accept the agenda of the meeting on the violation of Russian borders by Ukraine by Moscow. Seven countries, including the United States and the United Kingdom voted against, China, Russia, Kazakhstan and Bolivia voted in favor, four countries abstained.
Deputy Permanent Representative of the Russian Federation to the UN Dmitry Polyansky accused those who voted “against” that they “succumbed to the herd instinct” and called the meeting “disassembly in the sandbox”.
Speaking at a meeting of the UN Security Council, representatives of the United States, Britain, France, Poland and Sweden expressed concern that 23 Ukrainian seamen were still in custody in Russia. They are worried about the condition of the three wounded.
The representative of the United Kingdom accused Russia of trying to gain full control over the Sea of ??Azov, and the representative of France called the yesterday’s conflict a direct consequence of the annexation of Crimea.
As a result of the meeting of the UN Security Council, no resolutions were adopted..
US Permanent Representative Nicky Haley called the incident in the Kerch Strait "dangerous escalation and violation of international law", "outrageous violation of the sovereignty of Ukraine" and "another forcing" of the situation from Russia.
Neither the United States, nor the United Kingdom, nor France, which also spoke on behalf of Germany, have announced any plans to prepare new restrictions on Russia due to the conflict in the strait..
As a result, the main news from the meeting was the statement by Russian Deputy Representative in the UN Polyansky that among the captured sailors were allegedly two members of the Ukrainian special services, who, he said, admitted to preparing a provocation.
Ukrainian colleague Polyansky Vladimir Yelchenko did not respond to this statement.
Trump remained silent for a long time and commented on the incident in the Kerch Strait only on Monday evening, telling reporters at the exit of the White House: "We don’t like what happens. Let's hope everything works out. ".
According to him, he is working on solving the problem with European leaders.
"They are not happy. We all work on it together, "said Trump.
Following the comments of Trump, a statement about the conflict in the Kerch Strait was published by State Secretary Mike Pompeo..
"The United States expresses deep concern about the incident that occurred in the Black Sea on November 25, when Ukrainian vessels attempted to pass through the Kerch Strait," said Pompeo..
According to him, reports that Russian ships opened fire on Ukrainian ships and rammed them testify to “dangerous escalation and violation of international law”.
"US condemns Russia's aggressive actions. We call for the return of ships to Ukraine and the release of detained crew members, as well as respect for the sovereignty of Ukraine and its territorial integrity within its international borders, including its territorial waters, "the Pompeo statement said, recalling that the United States does not recognize Russia's attempt to annex Crimea.