President Trump implies recognition of Crimea as Russian territory

US President Donald Trump. Photo: Getty

On his personal Facebook page, Mr. Kosachev wrote: "It is extremely interesting that Mr. Donald Trump made an important statement while giving the reason why he refused to meet Russian President Vladimir Putin."

Mr. Kosachev quoted President Trump's twitter content: "Based on the fact that the Ukrainian ships and sailors have not been returned by Russia to Ukraine, I have decided to cancel the planned meeting" with President Putin in Argentina.

The Russian lawmaker stressed: "However, considering that these ships are still in Kerch, that is, in Crimea, which Ukraine, the United States and its allies still consider to be Ukrainian territory, then President Trump's statement that the ships are present in Russia and not returned to Ukraine means nothing other than recognizing Crimea as Russian territory! And this is an alarming signal for Kiev, not for Moscow."

On November 25, three Ukrainian naval vessels violated the procedures for passing through Russian territorial waters when they entered the Sea of ​​Azov from the Black Sea. Russian border guards used weapons to seize three Ukrainian vessels and their crews. The two countries have given conflicting statements about the incident.

The Ukrainian Navy said that Russia had sent ships to block the Kerch Strait, preventing two small warships and a Ukrainian tugboat from passing through the strait to enter the Sea of ​​Azov from the Black Sea.

However, Russia accused Ukraine of not informing in advance about the three ships passing through the Kerch Strait, and said the Ukrainian ships had moved dangerously and ignored Russia's instructions to incite tension, forcing Moscow to use force to prevent the Ukrainian military from illegally entering Russian waters.

The European Union (EU) and the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) called on the parties involved to cool down the situation.