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Kyiv's week of pressure after the Kerch Strait clash
Summary
A look back at where Ukraine's confrontation with Russia stood on 3 December 2018, after the seizure of three naval vessels and the imposition of martial law.
Where did the standoff between Kyiv and Moscow stand on 3 December 2018? The days before it had been among the most tense of the Russo-Ukrainian conflict, and a series of decisions taken between 27 and 30 November set the backdrop.
The incident at sea
On 25 November 2018, the Russian Federal Security Service coast guard fired upon and captured three Ukrainian Navy vessels in the Kerch Strait. The ships had been trying to pass from the Black Sea into the Sea of Azov on their way to the port of Mariupol. It was the first time Russian forces had openly engaged Ukrainian forces during the war.
Ports under pressure
By 29 November, Ukraine's Infrastructure Minister, Volodymyr Omelyan, said the ports of Berdiansk and Mariupol were effectively under blockade, because Russia was refusing to let any Ukrainian vessels enter or leave the Sea of Azov. President Petro Poroshenko called on NATO to send warships to patrol the Sea of Azov.
Diplomacy at the G20
The clash also reached the planning for the G20 summit in Buenos Aires. On 27 November, U.S. President Donald Trump said he might cancel his scheduled meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin because of the maritime incident. On 29 November, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said the meeting was still on. While flying to Argentina, Trump first said he would probably meet Putin and thought it a good time to do so. Less than an hour later he tweeted that he had cancelled the meeting after conferring with his top National Security advisers. He said it was not a good time, since Russia had not returned the ships and sailors to Ukraine.
Martial law and a border ban
On 30 November, Ukraine banned Russian men aged between 16 and 60 from entering the country, following the imposition of martial law. Poroshenko said the measure was meant to prevent the formation of "private armies" in Ukraine. Russia said it did not plan to retaliate.
NATO's northern flank
Elsewhere in the region, the Belgian Air Component reported on 29 November that its F-16s, flying in the Baltic region for NATO's Baltic Air Policing mission, had intercepted Russian Flanker jets the previous day, allegedly because they had no flight plan.
A domestic footnote
On 28 November, a Cabinet of Ministers decree returned the buildings of the Pochaiv Lavra to the Kremenets-Pochaiv Reserve.
Taken together, the reports from those days show a confrontation being fought at sea, in ports, at the border and in summit diplomacy. As of 3 December 2018, the ships and sailors had not been returned, and Kyiv was appealing for NATO naval support.
