Brussels: NATO chief Jens Stoltenberg on Monday demanded Russia free Ukrainian ships and sailors hel
Brussels: NATO chief Jens Stoltenberg on Monday demanded Russia free Ukrainian ships and sailors held after clashes off Crimea, warning Moscow that “its actions have consequences”.
Russia fired on and then seized three Ukrainian ships on Sunday, accusing them of illegally entering its waters in the Sea of Azov, in a dramatic spike in tensions that raises fears of a wider escalation.
Stoltenberg held phone talks with Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko before officials from the two sides held emergency talks at alliance headquarters in Brussels.
“There is no justification for the use of military force against Ukrainian ships and naval personnel, so we call on Russia to release immediately the Ukrainian sailors and ships it seized yesterday,” Stoltenberg told reporters after the meeting of the NATO-Ukraine Commission.
