Ukraine urges NATO to deploy ships amid standoff with Russia
Poroshenko, 'Putin wants nothing less but to occupy the sea'
29 November, 12:40Ukraine insisted that its vessels were operating in line with international maritime rules, while Russia said they had failed to get permission to pass. Ukraine has released what it said was the exact location where its ships were fired on by Russia, saying they were in international waters west of the Kerch Strait. Russia, meanwhile, insisted the Ukrainian vessels were in its territorial waters and refused to communicate with the Russian coast guard, or accept a Russian pilot to guide them through the narrow strait. "What were the border guards supposed to do?" Russian President Vladimir Putin said Wednesday. "They fulfilled their duty to protect the territorial integrity of the Russian Federation. If they had done something differently, they should have been put on trial for that." In the interview with Bild, Poroshenko lobbied the West for direct military support. "Russian President Putin wants nothing less but to occupy the sea," he said. "The only language he understands is the unity of the Western world." Putin, for his part, criticized the West for what he described as connivance with Ukraine's "provocation." "The authorities in Kiev are successfully selling anti-Russian sentiments as they have nothing else left to sell," he said. "They can get away with whatever they do. If they want to eat babies for breakfast today, they will likely serve them too." (ANSA-AP).