From the RFE/RL news desk:
By RFE/RL
U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo has said Ukraine has "no greater friend than the United States" in its struggle against "Russian aggression."
Pompeo made the remark after meeting with the Ukrainian Foreign Minister Pavlo Klimkin in Washington on November 16.
Pompeo said the "United States will never accept Russia's attempted annexation of Crimea," and that Washington will impose "consequences until Russia returns control of the Black Sea peninsula to Ukraine."
Russia seized Crimea in March 2014, a month before it started to aid separatists in eastern Ukraine in a conflict that has killed more than 10,300 people.
The two diplomats met on the 10th anniversary of the declaration of a strategic partnership between Ukraine and the United States.
Pompeo said he and Klimkin made progress in several areas during their talks, including on security and countering Russian aggression, as well as on rule of law and humanitarian issues.
Pompeo also noted the two discussed joint efforts to stop the Nord Stream 2 project that, he said, "undermines Ukraine's economic and strategic security and risks further compromising the sovereignty of European nations that depend on Russian gas."
Nord Stream 2 is a controversial project that would expand the current Nord Stream pipeline, which passes along the bottom of the Baltic Sea to deliver Russian gas to Germany.
The United States, Poland, the Baltic states, and several other EU countries have expressed concern about Nord Stream 2 -- which avoids existing gas pipelines through Ukraine -- and the added leverage on energy security it could give Moscow.
Klimkin said the United States and Ukraine “stand shoulder to shoulder in countering Russian aggression.” He said such aggression takes many forms, both the war in Crimea and parts of Donbas in Ukraine, and in Russian efforts to undermine democratic institutions in the United States and Europe.
Klimkin also said Kyiv was grateful for U.S. support in strengthening Ukraine's defense capabilities, "both through training of our military and through providing defense equipment."
Among other things, Washington has provided Kyiv with Javelin antitank missile systems.
With reporting by AFP
From the RFE/RL news desk:
Kremlin Warns May Act To Protect Russians If Ukraine Seizes Ships In Sea Of Azov
By RFE/RL
Russia has warned Ukraine that it may take measures to protect Russian ships crossing the Sea of Azov should Kyiv stop or seize any.
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters on a conference call on November 16 that Russia would take measures to protect Russian businesses, sailors, or other individuals if necessary.
He did not give any further details, saying only that "the situation is being closely monitored." He said any actions taken would be in line with international maritime law.
On November 15, Ukrainian border security spokesman Oleh Slobodyan said that Ukrainian authorities had seized 15 ships heading for Crimean ports. It was not clear how many of those ships were Russian.
He claimed the seized ships were illegally operating in Ukrainian waters.
Peskov said that Russian border guards have also be stopping and inspecting Ukrainian vessels in the Sea of Azov, but he claimed such inspections are "permitted" under international law and are taking place "in strict compliance with the law."
Since 2014, when Russia illegally annexed the Ukrainian peninsula, more than 940 foreign ships have arrived at Crimean ports, the Ukrainian spokesman said.
The Sea of Azov borders Russia, Ukraine, and Crimea - and this year has become a key flashpoint between the two sides.
A war between Ukraine government troops and Russia-backed separatists still simmers in Ukraine's east.
Russia has control over access to the Sea of Azov as it controls the Kerch Strait between Crimea and Russia.
Kyiv accuses Moscow of harassing ships heading for ports in Ukraine, such as Mariupol or Berdyansk.
Both sides have recently increased their military presence in the Azov region.
Russian lawmaker Frants Klintsevich, who sits on the defense committee in the upper parliament house, said on November 16 that Russia could "cut off" the Sea of Azov “in minutes” in response to the detention of Russian ships.
“It doesn’t matter if we are talking about the detention of Russian ships or ships of foreign states," he said. "By such actions, Ukraine itself really breaks the agreement on the Sea of Azov, from which only it will suffer."
Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Grigory Karasin earlier claimed that Kyiv, which plans to create a naval base in Berdyansk, is fueling tensions in the Sea of Azov.
With reporting by dpa, Reuters, Vedomosti.ru, and Interfax
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