This is
all about where International Waters intersect with sovereign National Waters
around Crimea. If the Russians screwed
up, they should admit it and end the charade.
If the Ukraine entered Crimean waters to provoke Russia, they should
admit it and stop doing that.
The
Latest: Trump, Erdogan talk about Russia-Ukraine dispute, by AP Moscow,
11/28/18.
U.S. President Donald Trump and Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan have
spoken on the phone to express their concerns about the Russia-Ukraine clash in
the Kerch Strait and Russia's detainment of three Ukrainian ships and 24 crew
members.
White House Press
Secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders says the two spoke on the phone
Wednesday about Sunday's incident in which Russian border guards fired on the
Ukrainian vessels and seized the ships. She says the two leaders agreed to meet
later this week at the Group of 20 meeting in Buenos Aires, Argentina, to
discuss this and other issues.
Russian Foreign Minister
Sergey Lavrov claims that detained Ukrainian officers from a boat confiscated
by Russian forces secretly sought to break through the Russian-controlled Kerch
Strait between the Black Sea and the Sea of Azov.
Russia's top diplomat
spoke Wednesday at a briefing with his Swiss counterpart, Ignazio Cassis, after
a bilateral meeting in Geneva, where Lavrov was attending a U.N.-backed
conference on Afghanistan.
Lavrov said Russian
border agents and interrogators turned up documents that "clearly show
that these ships had been ordered to not inform the authorities of Kerch Strait
and to try and break into the Sea of Azov secretly."
Ukraine on Wednesday
listed the exact location where its three ships were in international waters
when they were seized Sunday by Russia.
Turkish officials say
President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has discussed tensions between Russia and
Ukraine during a phone call with President Donald Trump.
The officials from
Erdogan's office said that the Turkish leader on Wednesday briefed Trump about
separate phone conversations that he held with the presidents of Russia and
Ukraine earlier in the day.
The Turkish and U.S.
presidents also discussed bilateral ties and agreed to meet during a Group of 20 meeting in
Buenos Aires this week. The officials provided the information on condition of
anonymity, in line with government rules.
Tensions between Russia
and Ukraine flared on Sunday, when Russian border guards fired on three
Ukrainian vessels and seized the ships and the crew. --By Suzan Fraser in
Ankara, Turkey.
Turkish officials say
President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has urged the presidents of Russia and Ukraine
to overcome their dispute through diplomatic channels.
The officials from
Erdogan's office said that the Turkish leader held separate telephone
conversations on Wednesday with Russia's Vladimir Putin and Ukrainian President
Petro Poroshenko.
The officials said that
during the phone calls Erdogan "listened to both sides" and expressed
Turkey's concerns over the standoff in the Black Sea that has raised the
specter of a major conflict. Russian border guards on Sunday fired on three Ukrainian
vessels and seized them and their crews.
The Turkish officials
provided the information on condition of anonymity in line with government
rules.
The U.S. special envoy
for Ukraine says Washington sees no reason to doubt information from Kiev that its
vessels were operating in line with international maritime rules when they were
fired on and seized by Russian border guards.
Kurt Volker told
reporters in Berlin on Wednesday that the Ukrainian vessels were on their way
back to Odessa "when the Russian vessels then pursued them and attacked
them."
He says "there's no
conceivable justification that we can think of for the use of force in this
scenario."
Ukrainian authorities
have released what they say is the exact location where the ships were fired on,
indicating they were in international waters.
Volker says he does not
have an independent U.S. assessment, but that "the data the Ukrainians
have provided is quite clear."
The European Union is
insisting that Russia restore freedom of passage in the disputed Kerch strait
between Russia and the annexed Crimean peninsula to guarantee eastern Ukraine a
sea opening into the Black Sea and beyond.
EU Vice President Valdis
Dombrovskis said Wednesday that "international law obliges the Russian
Federation ensures unhindered and free passage of all vessels through the Kerch
Strait. Therefore we expect Russia to restore the freedom of passage."
Russia has begun
prosecuting the crew of Ukrainian navy vessels it captured over the weekend in
a confrontation off Crimea, which the EU and
Western allies still recognize as Ukrainian. Russia and Ukraine have blamed
each other for Sunday's clash in the Kerch Strait, which links the Black Sea
and the Sea of Azov.
Dombrovskis called the
Russian action "unacceptable, and we expect Russia to immediately release
the vessels and the crew and ensure the needed medical assistance to the
Ukrainian servicemen."
Russian President
Vladimir Putin has laid the blame for a standoff with Ukrainian vessels in the
Black Sea on the Ukrainian president and his desire to get re-elected.
It is the first time
that Putin has commented on the incident near Russia-occupied Crimea on Sunday
that raised the specter of a full-blown conflict between the two neighbors.
Putin said in a
televised speech on Wednesday that the incident was entirely provoked by the
Ukrainian vessels, which refused to communicate with Russian border guards.
Putin laid the blame on Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko, saying that he
ordered the navy to provoke the standoff with the sole purpose of scoring
political points and getting re-elected next year.
Putin also said the
Ukrainian vessels violated the territorial waters off southern Russia — which is the
internationally recognized border. This appears to run counter to the claims of
the Ukrainian government, which said the ships were approaching from another
direction and were firmly in international waters.
Estonia has summoned the
Russian ambassador to Tallinn over Russia's use of military power against
Ukrainian sailors and vessels in the Kerch Strait.
The Estonian Foreign
Ministry says Aleksandr Petrov was told that Russia must immediately return the
three vessels and release the crew.
The ministry said
Wednesday that under international law, Russia must ensure that vessels from
any countries can pass through the strait unhindered.
Estonia, a former Soviet
republic, has reacted sharply to the events near Crimea, with President Kersti
Kaljulaid saying Tuesday the attack constitutes "war in Europe."
After Moscow's
annexation of the Crimean peninsula from Ukraine, Estonia, like its Baltic
neighbors Latvia and Lithuania, fear that they and other former Soviet
republics could be next.
Ukraine has released
what it says is the exact location near Crimea where its vessels were fired on
and seized by Russia over the weekend, showing that they were in international
waters.
The statement by
Ukrainian officials contradicts Russia's argument that it was chasing the ships
because they were violating its territorial waters. Russia considers Crimea,
which it annexed in 2014, part of its country.
The Ukrainian ministry
in charge of occupied territories on Wednesday published what it claimed were
the exact coordinates of where the military vessels "Berdiansk",
"Nikopol", and "Yany Kapu" were when they were attacked by
Russia, putting them outside the 12-mile zone of territorial waters.
Russian border guards
have captured the vessels and the crews. Officials say they will try the seamen
for violating the Russian border and that they do not consider them prisoners
of war.
A military official says
Russia will boost the defense of the occupied Crimean peninsula with more
anti-aircraft missiles.
The Interfax news agency
on Wednesday quoted Col. Vadim Astafyev, the top Defense Ministry official in
Russia's south, as saying that Russia will add one S-400 anti-aircraft missile
system to the three already deployed in the peninsula.
The announcement comes
three days after Russian border guards fired on three Ukrainian vessels and
seized them and their crews. The first overt military confrontation between the
two neighboring countries has raised the specter of a major conflict.
Ukraine said its vessels
were operating in line with international maritime rules, while Russia alleged
they had failed to get permission to pass.
Norb Leahy, Dunwoody
GA Tea Party Leader
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