Ukraine can ask for escort ships in the Azov Sea to the UN Security Council and NATO. According to RIA Novosti, the world community was informed about this by Deputy Minister for Issues of Temporarily Occupied Territories and Internally Displaced Persons of Ukraine Georgy Tuka.

He stressed that he did not undertake to give predictions as to when NATO’s naval forces could help Ukraine conduct naval convoys with its vessels in the Azov Sea.

According to the information of the Ukrainian Ministry of Infrastructure, from April 29 to July 9, Russia detained 93 ships, without any explanation, for the reason that they were passing through the Kerch Bay to the ports of Ukraine. It was alleged that because of this court are idle, and their owners are commercially damaging.

At the same time, Deputy Foreign Minister of Ukraine Elena Zerkal noted that when inspecting Ukrainian ships in the Sea of Azov, Russian border guards do not violate the protocols.

In turn, the deputy director of the Federal Security Service of Russia, the head of the FSB frontier service, Army General Vladimir Kulishov, stressed that in the Black Sea area adjacent to the Crimea, there are constantly provocative actions against Russian economic activity objects, as well as vessels entering the ports the peninsula.

So fishing vessel Nord, whose port of registration – Kerch, was detained by Ukrainian border guards in the Azov Sea on March 25, 2018, towed to the shores of Ukraine, where the ship and crew were arrested and released only in the second half of July.

Commenting on Tuk’s statement, State Duma deputy Dmitry Belik said that neither the UN Security Council nor NATO will venture to invade Russia’s territorial waters in order not to provoke the Russian Federation “on the forced use of force.”

Source: Maritime News of Russia