US defense secretary attacks Moscow over seizure of Ukrainian vessels, attempt to ‘muck around’ with midterms, and nuclear treaty

This article is more than 1 year old

This article is more than 1 year old

The US defense secretary, Jim Mattis, has blasted Russia on three fronts: for the “brazen” violation of a treaty with Kiev and the seizure of three Ukrainian vessels, for trying to “muck around” with the US midterm elections, and for violating a nuclear arms treaty.

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Mattis was speaking on Saturday at a defense forum in California, a day after Donald Trump went out of his way to dodge the Russia president, Vladimir Putin, at the G20 summit in Buenos Aires, citing the capture of the Ukrainian ships.

At the G20, Putin told reporters there had been no discussion with Ukraine about the possible release of 24 sailors who were seized along with their vessels last month.

Referring to a 2003 agreement governing the Kerch Strait between the Azov sea and Black sea, Mattis said Moscow had shown “brazen contempt and dismissal” for the deal “that allowed both Russian and Ukrainian ships free passage”.

His remarks were some of the strongest to date by the US. United Nations ambassador Nikki Haley previously accused Russia of “outlaw actions” and an “outrageous violation of sovereign Ukrainian territory”.

Tensions between Ukraine and Russia spiked on 25 November when Russian forces opened fire on and seized three Ukrainian navy vessels, detaining 24 crew members. It was the first open confrontation since 2014, when Russia annexed Crimea and pro-Russian separatists in the east entered into conflict with Ukrainian forces.

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The Russian channel TV Rain reported on Friday that the Ukrainian sailors had been taken to prison facilities in Moscow. At the G20 on Saturday, the French president, Emmanuel Macron, and the German chancellor, Angela Merkel, pressed Putin to release them. Putin told them the issue was a matter for the courts, his spokesman said.

Putin later said he would not introduce tit-for-tat restrictions on the entry of Ukrainians into Russia, after Kiev imposed a ban on Russian males aged 16 to 60 from entering its territory.

He also said there would be no pre-conditions for future bilateral talks with Trump.

“It is regrettable that we can’t succeed in holding a full-scale meeting, which is long due,” Putin said, adding that issues of strategic stability were of paramount importance. Putin and Trump had a brief meeting on the sidelines of the G20 on Friday, a Kremlin aide, Yuri Ushakov said. The White House said it happened around a dinner.

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In California, Mattis was widely critical of Putin, claiming Russia tried to “muck around” in last month’s midterm elections as part of its “efforts to try to subvert democratic processes that must be defended”.

This week saw dramatic developments in special counsel Robert Mueller’s investigation of Russian interference in the 2016 presidential election and links between Trump aides and Moscow.

The defense secretary also blamed Putin for Trump’s decision in October to withdraw from the 1987 intermediate-range nuclear forces treaty (INF).

“We are dealing with Putin’s duplicitous violation of the INF treaty,” he said, noting that while the US remains in compliance, Russia does not.

“We will re-energize our arms control efforts but the onus is on Russia,” he said.

The Kremlin denies violating the pact.

“This is related to the issues of strategic stability, especially after the president declared his desire to withdraw from the INF missile treaty,” Putin said.