MOSCOW, November 27. /TASS/. Ukraine’s decision to impose martial law poses a risk of escalating conflict in certain areas of the country, namely in the southeast, Kremlin Spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters on Tuesday.
"This is Ukraine’s domestic affair, but amid the elections, certainly, such a step as imposing martial law has a special undisguised undertone. Potentially, the imposition of martial law in some regions may pose a risk of escalating tensions in the conflict-hit region, namely the southeast," Peskov said.
When asked if this issue is expected to be discussed at the upcoming meeting between Russian President Vladimir Putin and his US counterpart Donald Trump, Peskov said: "This is not a topic for the G20 summit, but at the same time if any issues are raised at bilateral meetings with the president on the sidelines of the summit, no one should doubt that the president will give exhaustive clarifications."
The Kremlin spokesman declined to speak about the Russian leader’s reaction to the imposition of martial law in Ukraine, saying that the Defense Ministry should be briefed about this.
On Monday, speaking at the parliament, Ukrainian President Pyotr Poroshenko named the regions, where a 30-day martial law will be imposed from November 28. These are Vinnitsa, Lugansk, Nikolayevsk, Odessa, Sumy, Kharkov, Chernigov, Donetsk, Zaporozhye and Kherson, as well as Ukraine’s territorial waters in the Sea of Azov.
On November 25, three Ukrainian warships illegally crossed Russia’s state border in the Black Sea and entered Russia’s territorial waters performing dangerous maneuvers. The ships did not respond to the demands of the Russian Federal Security Service border directorate and the Black Sea Fleet to stop and continued their way.
All three Ukrainian Navy vessels, which had violated the Russian state border, were detained in the Black Sea, with weapons used to force them to stop. Three Ukrainian servicemen were slightly wounded and received medical assistance, the FSB said, adding that there was no threat to their lives. A criminal case has been launched over the violation of Russia’s state border. Moscow slammed the incident as a provocation.