Russia’s Vladimir Putin refuses to release Ukrainian sailors and ships after naval clash
- Russian president says it is ‘too early’ in investigation to consider a prisoner swap and accuses Ukraine government of provocation
Vladimir Putin has said it is “too early” to return Ukrainian sailors and naval vessels seized by Russia in the Sea of Azov, accusing the Ukrainian government of provoking an incident as a distraction from domestic problems.
Putin was speaking to reporters after the G20 summit in Buenos Aires, where US President Donald Trump cancelled a meeting with the Russian leader after Moscow’s refusal to release the 24 Ukrainians.
The Russian president said it was necessary to detain the captives while a legal case was put together to demonstrate that the three Ukrainian naval vessels violated Russia’s territorial waters.
He said the ships’ logs would show that their attempt to cross the Kerch Strait from the Black Sea into the Sea of Azov – enclosed by Russia, the Crimean peninsula and mainland Ukraine – was a deliberate provocation.
Asked if he might consider exchanging the captive sailors for Russians in Ukrainian detention, Putin said: “We are not considering a swap and Ukraine did not raise this issue, and it’s too early to talk about that. They are still being investigated.
