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An attempt by Russia to legalize the annexation of Crimea by arranging the arrival of Western specialists in the Kerch Strait is impossible, Ukrainian Foreign Minister Pavlo Klimkin said at a press conference. A joint press conference with his German counterpart Geiko Maas. . Earlier on January 18, he had declared that Russian President Vladimir Putin had accepted the proposal of German Chancellor Angela Merkel to send German and French experts to control the free passage of ships in the Kerch Strait.
According to the head of the Ukrainian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Kyiv congratulates Germany for this initiative, but Moscow will not be able to legitimize the annexation of Crimea by controlling access to it.
"I would like to point out that in the Kerch Strait, as in the Azov Sea, free navigation operates in accordance with the principles of international law .. .. We have also referred to the fact that, by definition, Russia should not be able to manipulate the surveillance on which we will reach an agreement – for example, Russia's attempt to tighten the skills of the German and French experts at the port of Kerch, and thus to attempt politically to legalize the occupation of Crimea by definition, by impossible.And, of course, for us, the very fact and the idea of obtaining the consent of the occupier in the territory busy are unacceptable to us, "said Klimkin.
He stressed that Russia opposed international humanitarian and human rights organizations' attempts to gain access to the annexed peninsula.
The follow-up should be based on a clear political position regarding the illegality of the usurpation of Russian sovereign rights by Ukraine. This is our basic position. Of course, we are well aware that the principle of freedom of navigation and the principle of safe navigation are important, but these are two fundamentally different principles. Therefore, the monitoring mechanism, which we are going to talk about, should not be limited to the physical aspects of ship traffic in the Kerch Strait or the problems of pilot support. He must focus on achieving freedom of navigation, "said the minister.
He added that he was in agreement with Maas to conduct expert control consultations.
After speaking, Geiko Maas was worried about the situation in the sea of Azov, according to him, he also discussed this issue with Lavrov during his morning visit to Moscow. 19659002] Read also: Ukraine asks Moscow to unblock trade and is ready to transfer 25 of its citizens to Russia – Gerashchenko
"I have clearly stated what we expected: Russia should guarantee the free passage of the Kerch Strait. We hear that this has already happened and that we want it to be provided in the long term. The crisis of December in this form should not be repeated. For this, we have one thing: the clarity of the situation on the ground, "he said.
The head of the German diplomatic department expressed the wish that all parties agree to monitor the Strait of Kerch.
He added that during the regular visit to Russia urged the Kremlin to release Ukrainian political prisoners, especially the director Oleg Sentsov, and the marine prisoners of war.
"This problem needs to be resolved by the party Russian. We are in favor of the release of these people and we will not give in to this affair, "said Maas.
On the morning of January 18, Geiko Maas went to Moscow, then arrived in Kiev where he met with the head of the Ukrainian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Pavel Klimkin.
In 2018, Russian troops stole, bombed and captured artillery boats Berdyansk and Nikopol and tug Yani Kapu around the coast of Crimea: Navy ships flew from Odessa to Mariupol, there were 24 Ukrainian soldiers on board, at least three were wounded and all are now in detention in Russia
Moscow accuses Ukrainian sailors "To cross the border illegally." Ukraine claims that the collision took place in neutral waters and considers captured sailors as prisoners of war.
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