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Activists organize flares during their rally in front of the Ukrainian parliament. (AFP)
Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko on Tuesday warned of the threat of "a far-reaching war" and said that Russia had significantly increased its military presence at the border common as the tension rose between its ex-Soviet neighbors.
The crisis also threatened diplomatic spillover, with US President Donald Trump warning that he could cancel a long-awaited summit with Russian Vladimir Putin.
It is expected that Mr Trump will meet President Putin at the G20 summit in Buenos Aires at the end. this week, but he told the Washington Post that it would depend on the results of an incident report being prepared by his national security advisers.
"Maybe I will not have the meeting, maybe I do not have the meeting," he said.
In Ukraine, Poroshenko warned that clashes at sea could herald more dramatic events in the Ukrainian-Russian military stalemate.
"I do not want anyone to think that it is fun and games." Ukraine is under threat of large-scale war with Russia, "said the president in an interview with television national.
stated, citing intelligence reports without giving any specific timeframe for editing.
He spoke after Russian forces seized three ships from Kiev off Crimea and captured 24 Ukrainian sailors.
On Tuesday, a court in Simferopol, the main city of Crimea annexed by Russia, ordered the temporary detention of 12 sailors for two months. Three hospitalized sailors were also officially detained for two months. The others must appear in court on Wednesday.
This decision provoked already heated tensions between Moscow and Kiev, with Russia continuing to accuse seafarers of being illegally returned to Russian waters and ignoring the warnings of its guards -frontières.
called for the release of sailors and urged Western allies to impose new sanctions on Moscow.
Putin warns against "reckless acts"
This incident is the first major sea clash of long standing. A conflict pitted Ukraine against Moscow and Russian-backed separatists in the east of the country.
He feared escalation – in a conflict that has killed more than 10,000 people since 2014 – and sparked international calls for restraint.
Putin on Tuesday warned Ukraine against any "reckless action" after the proclamation of martial law by Kiev in response to the seizure of naval ships by Moscow.
The Ukrainian parliament voted Monday in favor of the Po Roshenko's request to introduce martial law in the border areas for 30 days
This gives the Ukrainian authorities the power to mobilize citizens with military experience, regulate the media and restrict public gatherings in the affected areas.
German Chancellor Angela Merkel on Tuesday, Putin expressed "serious concern" about its introduction.
He stated that he hoped that Berlin could intervene with the Ukrainian authorities "to deter them from committing other irresponsible acts".
Moscow accused Kiev of planning Sunday's confrontation. as a provocation to increase support to Poroshenko before the elections next year and to convince Western governments to impose new sanctions on Russia.
Putin said that Kiev's actions were "clearly taken in view of the election campaign in Ukraine".
The Sunday incident takes place on Russian and Ukrainian television screens, with dramatic images of Russian vessels pursuing A boat attempting to cross the Kerch Strait from the Black Sea to the Azov Sea .
Sailors on Russian Television
Russian state television broadcast last Monday images of some of the captured sailors. questioned by Moscow security services.
One of them hears "the acts of Ukrainian armed ships in the Kerch Strait have a provocative character" – recalling the version of events presented by the Russian authorities.
Navy Commander Igor Voronchenko said sailors had been pressured to give false evidence.
"I know these sailors, they have always been professionals, what they say now is not true," he told the Ukrainian press.
Western governments rallied behind Kiev in the conflict, accusing Russia of illegally blocking access to the Azov Sea and carrying out military action without justification.
The European Union, Britain, Canada, France, Germany and other countries on Monday expressed their support for Kiev, in a statement issued by the newspaper pro Kremlin Izvestia, described as "predictable anti-Russian".
The Austrian Foreign Minister, leading the European Union in rotating president, said on Tuesday that the bloc is considering new sanctions against Moscow next month.
"It all depends on reports of events and actions on both sides." Karin Kneissl told reporters that UN President Antonio Guterres had called Tuesday for "maximum restraint," urging both sides to take action without delay to contain this incident and reduce tensions. " [19659035] (function (d, s, id) {var js, fjs = d.getElementsByTagName (s) [0]; if (d.getElementById (id)) return; js = d.createElement (s); js. id = id; js.src = "http://connect.facebook.net/en_US/sdk.js#xfbml=1&version=v2.5&appId=213741912058651";fjs.parentNode.insertBefore(js, fjs);} (document , 'Script', 'facebook-jssdk';);
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