President of Ukraine Petro Poroshenko conveyed to the international partners of Kiev proposals for anti-Russian sanctions because of the incident in the Kerch Strait, said Deputy Head of the Department for Foreign Policy and European Integration of the Presidential Administration Sergey Leschenko.
“The President brought to the consideration of our partners the persons and the court who were involved in the aggression in the Kerch Strait, as well as the judges and prosecutors who took part in the arrest of our illegally detained sailors,” Interfax-Ukraine quoted Leschchenko.
Leshchenko stressed that the “package of“ Azov sanctions ”being developed will imply an expansion of those restrictive measures that were introduced by the European Union and the United States for the construction of the Crimean bridge.
At the same time in the European Union talk of imposing sanctions against Russia is considered premature. This was stated by the head of European diplomacy Federica Mogherini.
“As you know, two things are always required for the adoption of any additional sanctions: first of all, a solid legal base, and in this we rely on information provided to us by EU members. And also the unity of all EU countries is necessary. Discussions are still ongoing, so it’s too early to say something about this, ”Rog Novosti quotes Mogherini.
In addition, the joint statement of the EU countries adopted on November 28 did not mention new anti-Russian sanctions, although the blame for the incident was placed on Russia.
“The EU expresses extreme concern over the dangerous growth of tension in the Sea of Azov and the Kerch Strait in recent days ... We are alarmed by the use of Russian force, which is against the backdrop of increasing militarization in the region,” the document says.
At the same time, in the United States, Russia was threatened with consequences if Moscow did not release the Ukrainian sailors.
"We want the Russians to take the message that they need to release the crew, otherwise there will be consequences - and the pain will only be stronger with time," - said in a statement on the website of the US Foreign Ministry.
“He understands that Europe and the USA have their own concerns above the roof”
Earlier, in an interview with Bloomberg, the Ukrainian president has already called on Western countries to "act in closer coordination" to prepare a new block of sanctions against Russia.
“In this situation, we need closer coordination in order to act, too, but this certainly does not mean that we need to start a war. We are a country of the world, and I am a man of the world ... Acting means to introduce a new block of sanctions against Russia, ”said Poroshenko.
"While the western partners make strong statements, Putin acts." Ukraine's leader urges sanctions over Russian "aggression" https://t.co/0puIpjqoXRpic.twitter.com/OUycOmAKIg
- Bloomberg (@business) December 5, 2018The head of Ukraine over the past few days gave a series of interviews to Western media, in which he accused Russia of the incident in the Kerch Strait and called on the international community to act against Moscow. So, on December 2, in an interview with the Funke Media Group, he called on Germany and other EU countries to increase the naval presence in the Black Sea in order to "contain Russia". Earlier in an interview with NBC, he made the same appeal to NATO countries.
On November 30, in a conversation with Sky News, Poroshenko suggested that Moscow was allegedly seeking to use the incident in the Kerch Strait to influence the elections.
Poroshenko’s statements and his numerous interviews with Western media are connected with the desire of the Ukrainian president to be re-elected in the presidential election in March next year, said Vladimir Zharikhin, deputy director of the Institute of CIS Countries.
“Poroshenko, within the framework of which has not begun officially, but in fact has been running a long-running election campaign, uses informational motives to conduct his propaganda. He understands that Europe and the United States have their own concerns above the roof — brexit, unrest in France, Merkel’s departure, ”he said in an interview with RT.
Zharikhin stressed that this activity was caused by the fading interest of the international community in the incident in the Kerch Strait.
“The proximity of this incident in time provides a certain, more and more fading interest. While he is still there, Poroshenko is forcing and requires real action from Europe. I think that this is unlikely to succeed, but what exactly happens is to show its activity in the face of Ukrainian voters, ”the expert noted.
Behind the desire to raise the political rating, there is an intention to receive funding from the West behind Poroshenko’s statements on the incident in the Kerch Strait, Alexei Mukhin, the general director of the Center for Political Information, said.
“Poroshenko is the person who leads the group that most benefits from the“ war ”with Russia. He gets both political and commercial preferences. Let me remind you that increasing the degree of confrontation with Russia allows Poroshenko to demand more and more financial and military assistance from curators and partners in the West, ”he said in a conversation with RT.
"Provocation organized by the current government"
Recall, on November 25, Russian border guards detained three Ukrainian ships of the Ukrainian Navy — the tug Yana Kapu and the armored boat Berdyansk and Nikopol — which attempted to break into the Sea of Azov through the territorial waters of Russia. The FSB Border Service was forced to use weapons, as a result of which three Ukrainian sailors were injured aboard the Berdyansk.
Later it turned out that the SBU officers were also on board the ships. As follows from the documents found on board the Nikopol, the task of the Ukrainian table crews is to secretly pass through the Kerch Strait, ignoring Russian border guards.
All 24 Ukrainian sailors, including officers of the Security Service of Ukraine, were detained and until January 25 will be detained in the Russian SIZO. The ships of the Ukrainian Navy are in the port of the city of Kerch. Russia considers the incident in the Kerch Strait to be a provocation of Ukraine.
"This is a provocation, of course, which is organized by the current government, I think, as the current president, on the eve of the presidential elections in Ukraine in March next year", - commented on the incident, Russian President Vladimir Putin.