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No contacts between Putin and Poroshenko following Kerch Strait incident — Kremlin

Earlier in the day, Porishenko said he had requested a telephone conversation with Putin but received no reply

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov Mikhail Metzel/TASS

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov

© Mikhail Metzel/TASS

MOSCOW, November 27. /TASS/. Russian President Vladimir Putin has had no telephone contacts with his Ukrainian counterpart, Pyotr Poroshenko, following the detention of the Ukrainian navy ships in the Kerch Strait that violated the Russian border, Putin’s press secretary Dmitry Peskov said on Tuesday.

"There have been no telephone contacts between the presidents," he said when asked by TASS to comment on reports that Kiev allegedly requested a telephone conversation with Moscow after the incident.

Earlier in the day, Porishenko said he had requested a telephone conversation with Putin but received no reply. Overnight to Tuesday, Putin spoke over the phone with German Chancellor Angela Merkel to inform her about the circumstances of the Kerch Strait incident.

In violation of the rules of passage via Russia’s territorial sea and the Kerch Strait, three warships of the Ukrainian Navy crossed Russia’s state border on November 25. The Russian side had to use weapons to compel the ships to stop. Three Ukrainian servicemen were lightly wounded. They received medical assistance. The ships were detained and escorted to the port of Kerch. A criminal case was initiated on border violation charges.

The Russian side described the incident as a provocation.

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