US Envoy For Ukraine Expresses Hope Kiev To Refrain From Extending Martial Law

US Envoy for Ukraine Expresses Hope Kiev to Refrain From Extending Martial Law

US Special Representative for Ukraine Negotiations Kurt Volker has expressed hope during his talks with the Ukrainian parliament speaker that the martial law in the country would not be extended.

MOSCOW (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 19th December, 2018) US Special Representative for Ukraine Negotiations Kurt Volker has expressed hope during his talks with the Ukrainian parliament speaker that the martial law in the country would not be extended.

"We do uphold Ukraine's aspiration to strengthen defence capacity of its armed forces to respond to Russian aggression," Volker told Andriy Parubiy on Tuesday, nonetheless underlining the importance of suspending the martial law on time and sticking to the democratic principles, according to the press service of the Ukrainian Parliament.

Volker and met on Tuesday to discuss the Kerch Strait incident between Kiev and Moscow.

Tensions between the two countries significantly escalated in late November, after three Ukrainian naval vessels tried to pass through the Kerch Strait without obtaining permission from Russia, thereby crossing the country's sea border illegally.

Russian authorities seized the ships and detained a total of 24 Ukrainian servicemen who were on board the vessels.

After the incident, Ukrainian authorities declared a 30-day period of martial law in certain regions of the country and also banned male Russian citizens aged 16-60 from entering Ukraine. On Sunday, Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko said that the martial law, which expires on December 26, would not be prolonged if the Russian army refrained from invading Ukraine.

According to Russian President Vladimir Putin, the Ukrainian ships' actions were a provocation orchestrated by Kiev because of Poroshenko's low approval ratings ahead of the March presidential election.