NATO is calling on Russia and Ukraine to show restraint after the Russian coastguard fired on Ukrainian navy vessels, wounding six seamen.
The Latest on tensions between Russia and Ukraine (all times local):
11:55 a.m.
NATO is calling on Russia and Ukraine to show restraint after the Russian coastguard fired on Ukrainian navy vessels, wounding six seamen.
Ukraine says the ships were respecting international maritime rules as they headed to the Sea of Azov. Russia says they failed to obtain permission to pass through the Kerch Strait separating Crimea from the Russian mainland. Tensions between NATO and Russia have escalated since 2014 after Russia annexed Ukraine’s Crimean Peninsula.
NATO spokeswoman Oana Lungescu said “we call for restraint and de-escalation.”
She said NATO supports Ukraine’s “navigational rights in its territorial waters” and calls on Russia “to ensure unhindered access to Ukrainian ports in the Azov Sea, in accordance with international law.
