The Ukrainian ports on the Sea of Azov were ‘partially unblocked’ by Russia, BBC reported. The international stern pressure helped Ukraine to ease the Russian pressure, said local MPs.
The Ukrainian-Russian standoff is not over yet but the commercial ports were ‘partially unblocked’ by Russia. The Ukrainian agriculture ministry confirmed grain was again being loaded on to ships in the two ports on the sea of Azov while the passage of ships with agricultural products through local ports had been unblocked.
Russia was very surprised with such an official statement, Kremlin insisted it never blocked vessels from sailing through the strait and that any possible disruptions were due to complicating weather conditions, not a Russian ‘blockade’.
After an incident on 25 November in which the Russian coastguard fired upon and seized three Ukrainian naval vessels and 24 sailors onboard, Ukraine is continuing to accuse Russia of military aggression and asked NATO to send its ship to the Black Sea. Meanwhile, Ukrainian media said violence had continued in eastern Ukraine, where pro-Russian separatists seized areas of two border regions in 2014.
On 25 November, Moscow has called the naval incident a provocation intended to shore up Poroshenko’s sagging popularity, while Russian parliament approved a statement accusing the Ukrainian leader of a “reckless and cynical attempt to change the situation in his favour”, and a “desire to cling to power at any cost even at the threat of a full-scale war”.
