The incident is back-firing on Poroshenko ...
Big TIME!
Poroshenko probably thought he was setting the Russian's up for a fall "while Poroshenko's opposition"
was setting HIM up instead?
Ukrainian President Pyotr Poroshenko© AP Photo/Markus Schreiber
11.26.2018 - Ukrainian opposition demands president’s resignation following Kerch Strait incident
Ukrainian opposition demands president’s resignation following Kerch Strait incident
On November 25, three warships of the Ukrainian Navy illegally crossed the Russian state border at sea.
The resignation of Ukrainian President Pyotr Poroshenko is the only way to prevent rising tensions following the Kerch Strait incident, Ukraine’s parliamentary group "Opposition Platform For Life" said in a statement on Monday.
"Today, the priority task is to prevent rising tensions and protect the people. In order to achieve this goal, there is a need to dismiss all military officers involved in the Kerch Strait incident, which had put the lives and health of Ukrainian sailors in danger. We believe that ensuring President Poroshenko’s resignation and a new presidential election is the only way out of the situation," the statement reads.
The group also stressed that
martial law declaration would not help resolve the crisis but will further deteriorate the political and economic situation in the country. "Taking advantage of the martial law declaration stunt, President Poroshenko seeks to usurp power and call off the upcoming presidential election that he is bound to lose. Martial law declaration will provide the current failed regime with an opportunity to mop up unwanted people, close down some media outlets and restrict freedom of expression, as well as the rights of Ukrainian citizens. The current regime has already gone bankrupt. They don’t have the right to bring the nation’s life to a halt over their lust for power and inability to resolve the armed conflict in the country’s east peacefully," the statement notes.
The group also called for launching an open and direct dialogue between Ukraine and Russia, which would also involve European Union members.
11.26.2018 - Spooked by martial law, Europe halts talks on Ukraine’s gas transmission system — expert
Spooked by martial law, Europe halts talks on Ukraine’s gas transmission system — expert
Europe has suspended talks on the participation in the management of the gas transmission system of Ukraine immediately after the topic of martial law emerged.
Europe has suspended talks on the participation in the management of the gas transmission system (GTS) of Ukraine immediately after the topic of martial law emerged, since this matter might lead to an energy crisis in the country, an analyst with the Ukrainian Institute of Energy Studies Yuri Korolchuk said on Monday.
"Once news surfaced about martial law that alone led to the suspension of talks on the participation of European partners in the management of Ukraine’s gas transit system after 2019. It means preparations for a new transit agreement have collapsed," the expert wrote in Facebook.
"While the probability of a transit crisis was estimated at one-third (30%) earlier, now it has rocketed to almost 80% (3/4)," Korolchuk stressed. "You have to remember in this case that talks with the EU regarding gas transmission system had progressed very slowly after Naftogaz hindered the process of the company’s spin-off," the expert said.
Korolchuk also predicts an electricity shortage. "Martial law will definitely result in the termination of coal supplies from Russia. Inventories at thermal power plants right now are equal to an acceptable minimum amount. There is nothing to replace the coal from Russia now and a gap in coal supplies would lead to rolling power outages," the expert said. Eighty percent of nuclear fuel comes from Russia, he added.
Furthermore, Ukraine is 80% dependent on imported gasoline, diesel fuel and propane-butane coming from Russia and Belarus, the expert added.
11.26.2018 - Putin has no plans to meet with Russian Security Council over Kerch Strait incident
Putin has no plans to meet with Russian Security Council over Kerch Strait incident
Russian President Vladimir Putin does not plan to convene a meeting with the members of the Russian Security Council over the incident in the Kerch Strait, Putin’s press secretary Dmitry Peskov told journalists on Monday.
"No," he said when asked whether the head of state plans to meet with the Russian Security Council members later in the day.
According to Peskov, the president works in Moscow on Monday. The president’s schedule for this day will be made public later.
11.26.2018 - Russia's top diplomat comments on Kerch provocation
Russia's top diplomat comments on Kerch provocation
Key international law provisions have been violated, Lavrov stressed.
The border violation by Ukrainian navy ships is a provocation breaking numerous international agreements, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said at a press conference on Monday.
"It definitely was a provocation. Everything that needed to be said has already been said in statements issued by the Russian FSB Border Service, the Foreign Ministry and our spokeswoman.
Key international law provisions have been violated, particularly maritime law and general international law, including the UN Charter, the 1982 Convention on the Law of the Sea and other legal documents, which demand that all states respect the sovereignty of other countries," Lavrov said.
According to him, the ships violating the border had put traffic security in the area in danger. "It was rather dangerous as they were maneuvering in a narrow strait. It created threats and risks for the normal movement of vessels in the area," the Russian top diplomat stressed.
At the same time, Lavrov pointed out that Moscow was not concerned about statements made by anti-Russian politicians who called for new sanctions over the Kerch Strait incident.
"We stopped being concerned about it a long time ago. Clearly, sanctions are always a bad thing but we have difficulties commenting on a policy calling for sanctions on a country whose sovereignty was violated in an incident such as yesterday’s. We can hardly be expected to influence people obsessed with only one idea - to search for new excuses to exert pressure on Russia," Lavrov said.
According to the Russian Federal Security Service (FSB), on Sunday morning, three ships from the Ukrainian Navy - the Berdyansk, the Nikopol and the Yany Kapu - illegally crossed Russia’s border and tried to carry out some illegal actions in Russian territorial waters on Sunday night. They ignored legitimate demands to stop issued by vessels belonging to the FSB Border Service and the Black Sea Fleet and continued maneuvering dangerously. In order to stop the Ukrainian ships, weapons had to be used. The three vessels were detained in Russian territorial waters. Three Ukrainian military servicemen suffered light wounds and were provided with medical assistance.
A criminal investigation has been opened into the border incident. The FSB said that evidence proving Kiev’s plans to carry out a provocation in the Black Sea would soon be made public.
Update:
11.26.2018 - Lavrov comments on Kerch Strait provocation
Lavrov comments on Kerch Strait provocation
On November 25, three Ukrainian warships illegally crossed Russia’s state border in the Black Sea and entered Russia’s territorial waters performing dangerous maneuvers.
The November 25 provocation in the Kerch Strait was apparently conducted under the direct order of Ukraine’s authorities, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said on Monday.
"The fact that it was done under the goodwill and direct order of the leadership is undoubtable," he said, commenting on the violation of the Russian border by Ukrainian ships on November 25.
"When the Ukrainian side was planning this provocation, they must have calculated the additional benefits they wanted to derive from this situation expecting the US and Europe to blindly support the instigators, as usual," he added.
The Russian foreign minister added that it is hard for him to name the goals of Kiev’s leadership. "The Group of Twenty [meeting] in Buenos Aires is approaching. The Ukrainians also submitted a draft resolution on the militarization of the Sea of Azov at the UN General Assembly more than a week ago, and they must have thought it important to glean facts for this meaningless document which they spread in the UN," he went on.
Martial law declaration
Martial law declaration may give a free hand to Ukrainian radical nationalists, Lavrov said.
"We need to keep a close eye on the situation [in Donbass]," he said. "Violations of international humanitarian law have already become common there, which include the shelling of settlements and social facilities, and civilian deaths. If martial law is declared, then radical nationalists may feel that they have been given a free hand," the Russian top diplomat added.
"We strongly call on Kiev’s western sponsors to calm down those who are trying to take advantage from military hysteria and score political points in relation to the upcoming elections and other events taking place in Ukraine," Lavrov said.
According to the Russian Federal Security Service (FSB), on Sunday morning, three ships from the Ukrainian Navy - the Berdyansk, the Nikopol and the Yany Kapu - illegally crossed Russia’s border and tried to carry out some illegal actions in Russian territorial waters on Sunday night. They ignored legitimate demands to stop issued by vessels belonging to the FSB Border Service and the Black Sea Fleet and continued maneuvering dangerously. In order to stop the Ukrainian ships, weapons had to be used. The three vessels were detained in Russian territorial waters. Three Ukrainian military servicemen suffered light wounds and were provided with medical assistance.
A criminal investigation has been opened into the border incident. The FSB said that evidence proving Kiev’s plans to carry out a provocation in the Black Sea would soon be made public.
Meanwhile, Ukraine’s National Security and Defense Council (NSDC) has come up with an initiative to declare a 60-day martial law in the country over the situation in the Kerch Strait. The Verkhovna Rada (Ukraine’s parliament) is expected to consider the initiative at an emergency meeting later on Monday. According to NSDC Secretary Alexander Turchinov, martial law may be lifted any time "if that the situation improves."
