The Kremlin has sharply criticized the Ukrainian president’s plea for NATO to deploy naval ships to the Sea of Azov amid a standoff with Russia.
“The question itself, of course, is aimed at further provoking tensions, at continuing the provocative line, which is based on the pre-electoral political interests of President Poroshenko,” spokesman Dmitry Peskov stated responding to a question about the Kremlin’s position on Poroshenko’s appeals to NATO to send ships to the incident area in the Kerch Strait.
The Kremlin spokesman has refused to comment on a possible response by Russia to the likely entry of NATO ships into the Sea of Azov.
According to Peskov, the basis of the question lies in “the electoral and domestic political interests of President Poroshenko.”
The statement followed Poroshenko’s interview with the German tabloid Bild where he said that Kiev hopes that NATO will send ships to the incident area in the Kerch Strait.
The incident in the Kerch Strait took place on 25 November when the Ukrainian Berdyansk and Nikopol gunboats and the Yany Kapu tugboat illegally crossed the Russian maritime border as they sailed toward the Kerch Strait, the entrance to the Sea of Azov. The Ukrainian vessels were seized by Russia after failing to respond to a demand to stop.
Source: Sputnik
