Putin called the seizure of Ukrainian ships by Russia "a small incident"

President Vladimir Putin for the first time commented on the events in the Kerch Strait, which led to a sharp exacerbation of the conflict between Russia and Ukraine.

Фото: Depositphotos

He called the seizure of Ukrainian ships a small incident and a provocation on the eve of the presidential election, writes with the BBC.

“This is a provocation organized by the current government. I think that he will also be the current president - on the eve of the presidential elections in Ukraine in March next year,” Putin said, speaking at the “Russia Calling” investment forum.

“This is a border incident. Nothing more!” Putin said, and wondered why Kiev did not impose martial law in 2014, when “Crimea decided to join Russia” and there were “heavy battles using tanks, artillery and even aviation” in the Donbass.

“It was a different, large-scale story. And no martial law was introduced. And now a small incident in the Black Sea - and martial law was introduced. This is clearly being done for the sake of elections,” Putin is sure.

According to the Russian President, according to Poroshenko’s rating, he is “approximately in fifth place”, “he has a chance of not even entering the second round.” Therefore, according to Putin, the Ukrainian president decided to “do something to aggravate the situation” and create obstacles for competitors, primarily from the opposition.

Recall, 25 November two Ukrainian boats and the tug that accompanied them were fired upon and detained by FSB border guards near the Kerch Strait. Russia accused the sailors of violating the border, and the Ukrainian authorities accused the Russians of provocation. Kiev and Western countries accused the Kremlin of aggression.

At the forum, Putin recalled that in September of this year, Ukrainian ships passed through the Kerch Gulf. According to him, then the sailors “fulfilled the agreements”, informing them “in what composition they were going, where they were going, who was going”: “We provided them with a pilot and calmly escorted them to their destination in the Sea of ​​​​Azov.”

The Russian president accused the Ukrainian sailors of the fact that this time they did not respond to requests from border guards and entered the territorial waters, which were Russian before the annexation of the Crimea.

“Even after violating the state border, they were offered to take a pilot - silence,” Putin said.

Russian border guards in this situation acted “as they should have acted,” Putin argues: “If they had acted differently, they would all have to be brought to justice.”

According to him, among the sailors were two employees of the Security Service of Ukraine, and called their presence on the boats “clear signs of a prepared provocation”, the purpose of which is to introduce martial law in Ukraine.

“This is an unscrupulous game within the country, the suppression of political opponents,” Putin concluded and shared his feeling that Western leaders “forgive everything” to Kiev and fulfill all its demands: “If they demand babies for breakfast, they will probably be served babies too.” .

Poroshenko did not get through

US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo called on Putin and Poroshenko to “directly participate in resolving this situation.” Peskov said on Tuesday that “the situation does not need appeasement.”

“Pacification occurred when our border guards pacified state border violators,” he said.

On Tuesday, in an interview with Ukrainian TV channels, Poroshenko said that after the incident in the Black Sea, he wanted to phone with the Russian president.

“I want no one to think that these are fun or toys. Ukraine is under the threat of a full-scale war with the Russian Federation,” explained the President of Ukraine.

“I ordered a conversation with Russian President Putin at night - we did not receive an answer,” he said. Peskov responded only that “there were no telephone contacts between the presidents.”

Poroshenko said he had to call Angela Merkel, the German chancellor, when he could not contact Putin to talk to him about the release of the sailors. On the eve of the Kremlin reported that Merkel really called the Russian president. Putin, in a conversation with her, blamed the incident on Kiev.

Trump doesn't like aggression

On Wednesday, US President Donald Trump said that after the Kerch incident, he could cancel a scheduled meeting with Putin, to be held on the sidelines of the G20 summit in Argentina (it will start on November 30).

“Maybe I won’t hold this meeting [with Putin]. I don't like this aggression. I don’t need that kind of aggression at all,” Trump said.

“Preparations continue, the meeting has been agreed upon. We do not have any other information from our American counterparts,” Peskov commented on Trump’s statement. Putin himself said at the “Russia Calling” forum that he hopes to meet with the American president.

In turn, US State Department spokeswoman Heather Nauert said that European countries must do more to help Ukraine. According to her, we may talk about tightening sanctions and revising agreements on the construction of the Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline.

The incident at the Kerch Strait was another aggravation of the conflict between Ukraine and Russia, which annexed Crimea in 2014, and later built a bridge across the Kerch Strait onto the peninsula. The Ukrainian side calls the actions of Russia an act of military aggression, Poroshenko signed a decree on the introduction of martial law for a period of one month.

Ruble fluctuates

On the first working day after the capture of the Ukrainian ships plummeted the exchange rate of the Russian ruble against the dollar and the euro. Analysts pointed out that the Russian currency reacts to geopolitics and sanctions risks.

On Tuesday, the ruble moderately strengthened against the dollar and the euro against the background of a decrease in tension in the Russian-Ukrainian conflict. On Wednesday morning, the ruble grew again.

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