Estonia prepares to introduce sanctions against Russia because of Kerch Strait incident Thursday, February 21, 2019 3:00:48 PM

The Estonian parliament will appeal to the government with a proposal to introduce individual sanctions against four high-ranking Russian officials who are deemed responsible for Russia’s attack on Ukrainian ships in the Kerch Strait. Among them are Senator Aleksey Pushkov, Vladimir Kulishov, Sergei Stankevich and Vasily Piskarev. The decision was adopted by the Estonian MPs on Wednesday, February 20.

Fifty-six deputies voted to impose sanctions on the four officials. The sanctions prohibit entry to Estonia and countries of the Schengen Agreement. Deputies Henn Polluaas of the Conservative People’s Party of Estonia (EKRE) and Mart Nutt of Pro Patria (Isamaa) joined this initiative.

Vasily Piskarev is Head of the Russian State Duma Committee on Security and Anti-Corruption. Aleksey Pushkov is Chairman of the Information Policy Committee of the Council of Federation of the Federal Assembly of the Russian Federation. General Vladimir Kulishov is First Deputy Head of the Federal Security Service of the Russian Federation or FSB and Head of the Border Guard Service of the FSB. Rear Admiral Sergei Stankevich is Head of the Border Department of the Federal Security Service of Crimea and Sevastopol.

On 25 November last year, Russia attacked and captured the Ukrainian military boats Berdyansk and Nikopol and the tugboat Yany Kapu in neutral waters. All 24 Ukrainians on board were accused of violating the Russian state border, arrested, and transferred from Kerch to Moscow. Ukraine considered this an act of military aggression, and the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe recognized the captured sailors as prisoners of war.

US President Donald Trump canceled his planned meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin because of the Kerch Strait incident. US Special Representative for Ukraine Kurt Volker similarly called off his scheduled negotiation session with Russian Presidential Aide Vladislav Surkov.

Oleksandr Turchynov, Secretary of Ukraine’s National Security and Defense Council, said in December that Ukraine had invited its international partners to take part in a passage of naval ships from the Black Sea into the Sea of Azov through the Kerch Strait. The Russian media warned that this could “aggravate the situation”.

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