[ad_1]
The confrontation that took place on Sunday in the vicinity of the Kerch Strait, a narrow passage between the Black Sea and the Azov Sea, was a serious escalation of the Russian-Ukrainian conflict and a rare example of commitment direct military service between the two countries. Although they have been in a merciless war for nearly five years, clashes have mainly involved Ukrainian forces with Russian-backed separatists in eastern Ukraine.
"This incident is a reminder of the war in Ukraine," said Stoltenberg.
Although the details of Sunday's clash remain unclear, Russia admitted to firing on three Ukrainian ships as they tried to cross the strait. Russia then seized the ships and their crews. At least six sailors were wounded, three of them seriously, the Ukrainians said, although Russia says their wounds are not life threatening.
Russia said it was forced to open fire after the entry of Ukrainian ships in what the Kremlin called Russian territorial waters, regardless of warnings.
At the United Nations on Monday, the Russian delegation attempted to convene an emergency session of the Security Council that would have condemned the Ukrainian aggression, but was blocked by other members of the council.
The representative of Russia, Dmitry Polyansky, criticized Ukraine, accusing its leaders of sowing hatred against Russia by brainwashing, and suggested that the confrontation with Russia was an advantage for Poroshenko, who is delay in the polls before the March elections.
In a pre-session address, Ukrainian Ambassador Volodymyr Yelchenko warned that the clashes at sea could give way to new incursions of Russian forces into Ukrainian territory. Ukraine has two main ports on the sea of Azov, Mariupol and Berdyansk, which depend on the free movement of ships in the Kerch Strait.
The violence occurred near the 79th anniversary of the beginning of the Soviet Union's war against Finland in 1939, which Yelchenko said was not a coincidence.
"What is happening today in the sea of Azov recalls the events of the 1930s," he said.
