KIEV, February 5. /TASS/. Ukraine’s ships could again pass through the Kerch Strait with experts of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe and journalists onboard, Ukrainian President Pyotr Poroshenko has told ICTV.
"I won’t say when [the ships will pass through the strait] as only volunteers will go there. I do not rule out that there will be journalists and OSCE experts, and [First Deputy Speaker of the Verkhovna Rada] Irina Geraschenko is very eager to come," Poroshenko said, noting that these initiatives would be considered.
The Ukrainian president assured that the vessels would certainly cross the strait. "We will defend the freedom of navigation," he added.
Situation in Sea of Azov
On November 25, three warships of the Ukrainian Navy violated the rules of passage through Russia's territorial waters while en route from the Black Sea to the Azov Sea. The Russian side had to use weapons to compel the ships to stop. The ships were detained and escorted to the port of Kerch. A criminal case was launched on border violation charges. Moscow described the incident as a provocation.
Twenty-four Ukrainian sailors were arrested and taken to a Moscow pre-trial detention center. They have been charged with illegally crossing Russia’s state border, and face up to six years in jail if found guilty. Ukraine used this incident as another pretext to accuse Russia of violating international rules and impeding navigation.
Russian President Vladimir Putin said during his annual news conference in December that Moscow was not hindering the passage of vessels, including warships, through the Kerch Strait. He recalled that due to restrictions for natural reasons a special regime was introduced under which an application should be filed beforehand. Ukrainian vessels are allowed to pass through the strait, and this happened in September 2018, he said. However, the log books of those Ukrainian vessels detained in November showed that they had been ordered ‘enter secretly,’ he stressed.
In an interview with the BBC in December, Ukrainian National Security and Defense Council’s Secretary Alexander Turchinov said that Kiev had no plans to stop the passage of its warships through the Kerch Strait, and did not rule out the possibility of eliminating the Crimean Bridge. He also said that Ukraine was ready to invite representatives of the OSCE, NATO and other international organizations to be onboard Ukrainian vessels. Russian Foreign Ministry Spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said Moscow expected that Western sponsors would talk Kiev out of staging a new provocation with warships’ passage through the Kerch Strait.