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A ship passes under the bridge connecting the rest of Russia to Crimea in the Kerch Strait. This strait connects the Black Sea to the Sea of ​​Azov, where there are important Ukrainian ports. Reuters / Pavel Rebrov

According to Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov, Ukrainian sailors captured by Russia at the end of November during a sea confrontation off the Crimean peninsula annexed by Moscow violated the law. They will be judged, insisted Mr. Lavrov.

Ukrainian sailors " violated international law and Russian laws by illegally entering Russian territorial waters ," Lavrov told a news conference in Milan. " It is a crime that is considered as such in any country, " he added. On 25 November, Russia captured three Ukrainian military ships with 24 sailors on fire, setting off the worst stand-off with Kiev for several years.

After the investigation, the trial

The incident occurred in the Black Sea as ships attempted to enter Azov via the Kerch Strait, off the Ukrainian Crimean peninsula annexed by Russia. Accused by Moscow of illegally entering Russian territorial waters, Ukrainian sailors, of whom at least three were injured in the clash, were remanded in Crimea and transferred to the Russian capital.

Indicted for illegal crossing of the border, they risk up to six years in prison, according to their lawyer. " When the investigation is over, there will be a trial, " Lavrov said. " And when the trial is over (...), we can see how to make their fate less painful or to agree on any concrete measures to take, " he added.

For the time being, captured Ukrainian sailors are " not hurting themselves, and there is no threat to their health, " said the head of Russian diplomacy. This incident represents the first open military confrontation between Moscow and Kiev since the annexation of Crimea in 2014 and the beginning of the same year of armed conflict in eastern Ukraine between government forces and pro-Russian separatists that has done more 10,000 dead.

Moscow-Washington relations at the lowest

It has also further exacerbated the already tense relations between Moscow and Washington, with US President Donald Trump canceling his meeting with Vladimir Putin on the sidelines of the last G20 summit in Buenos Aires because of the sea confrontation. Relations between Russia and the United States are currently at their lowest since the end of the Cold War, poisoned by the Syrian crisis, the conflict in Ukraine, accusations of Russian interference in the US presidential election of 2016 and more recently by those of violation by Moscow of a 1987 treaty on intermediate-range nuclear weapons (INF).

As many accusations that the Russians reject for their part vehemently. Moscow, for its part, denounces Russia's frequent recourse to the extraterritoriality of American law. Thus, Lavrov once again accused Washington of taking " the course towards the extraterritorial use of its national laws " on Friday, commenting on the arrest in Canada of the Chinese giant Huawei's financial director, Meng Wanzhou, to the request of the United States. " No one accepts this arrogant policy of a superpower, it causes the rejection even of the closest allies of the United States, " said Lavrov.

( with AFP )