According to the agency, during a meeting at the Munich Security Conference on February 16, Pence urged Merkel to send ships to the Kerch Strait.
It is reported that the chancellor refused, citing the position of President of Ukraine Petro Poroshenko.
So, according to sources, Merkel said she was ready to send ships together with France as a one-time maneuver, but Poroshenko said that this was not enough. As a result, both France and Germany abandoned the idea, considering it an “unnecessary provocation.”
Earlier, the head of the General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, Victor Muzhenko, said that Kiev would not give up the right of free navigation through the Kerch Strait.
On November 25, 2018, three ships of the Ukrainian Navy illegally crossed the Russian border, after which they were detained.