Kerch Strait Incident Discussed During US-Canada Ministerial - Pompeo

Top US and Canadian officials discussed the Kerch Strait incident at a 2+2 ministerial meeting, US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo told reporters during the joint press availability on Friday.

WASHINGTON (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 14th December, 2018) Top US and Canadian officials discussed the Kerch Strait incident at a 2+2 ministerial meeting, US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo told reporters during the joint press availability on Friday.

"We discussed our response to the situation in Ukraine. I expressed my concern over Russia's recent aggression in the sea of Azov," Pompeo said.

Canadian Foreign Minister Chrystia Freeland during the same press conference called on Russia to release the Ukrainian sailors arrested by Russia following the incident.

On November 25, according to Russian officials, Ukraine's Berdyansk and Nikopol gunboats and the Yany Kapu tugboat illegally crossed the Russian maritime border as they sailed toward the Kerch Strait, the entrance to the Sea of Azov.

The Ukrainian vessels were seized by Russia after failing to respond to a demand to stop.

Following the incident, Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko signed a decree declaring martial law in several Ukrainian regions located near the Russian border. Russian President Vladimir Putin has said that the incident was a provocation prepared in advance as a pretext to introduce martial law ahead of Ukraine's presidential election.