MOSCOW, June 26. / TASS /. The incident with the British destroyer Defender, which entered Russia's territorial waters could have lead to a military clash said Russian Ambassador to Great Britain Andrei Kelin on the air of the YouTube channel "Soloviev Live" on Saturday.
"The nightmare is that they are trying to reinforce the political position with a military provocation, which, indeed, can lead us to a serious military incident, which the chief of the British General Staff admitted just yesterday evening," Kelin said.
At the same time, he said that the position of Britain on this issue is "offensive, rough." "They took the position that the Destroyer was sailing in the territorial waters of Ukraine. They do not recognize the fact that of the annexation of Crimea to Russia. It was a peaceful passage on legal grounds," he said.
Kelin said that he has scheduled meetings with the British side, based on which he expects to clarify the incident with the British destroyer in the Black Sea."I have now scheduled meetings with people who are responsible for foreign policy and security issues. I hope to clarify this matter with them and say quite clearly that either we have a political dialogue or a provocation," Kelin said.
Before the incident with the destroyer in the Black Sea, Russia and Great Britain carried out political dialogue on the initiative of the British side, which has now faltered, but Russia expects to develop it further, said Russian Ambassador.
"Recently, on the initiative of the British, political dialogue had started a little. I repeat, on their initiative. And we hope to develop it somehow. But things like this incident steer it in the wrong direction," said Kelin.
On June 23, the Russian Ministry of Defense announced the invasion of the Russian Federation's territorial waters by the destroyer Defender near Cape Fiolent in Crimea. The Russian military and border guards opened warning fire along the course of the ship, after which it left the borders of the territorial sea of the Russian Federation. The Ministry of Defense called the actions of the destroyer crew a gross violation of the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea. The British side argued that the ship was performing "innocent passage through the territorial waters of Ukraine." According to it's version, the Russian servicemen did not open fire in the direction of the destroyer, but "conducted training exercises.".