ussian President Vladimir Putin said on Tuesday that Ukraine is to blame for the confrontation in Crimea, as Moscow warned that the conflict could escalate because of Kiev’s decision to declare martial law.
In a phone call with German Chancellor Angela Merkel on Tuesday, Putin said he is “seriously concerned” about the weekend’s incident.
He said Ukraine provoked the confrontation for political reasons.
Merkel’s spokesperson, Steffen Seibert, said the chancellor in the conversation with Putin stressed the need for de-escalation and dialogue.
Hours after the phone call, the Kremlin issued a follow-up statement denouncing the martial law in Ukraine.
“The imposition of martial law in some regions may pose a risk of escalating tensions in the conflict-hit region, namely the south-east,” Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov said in comments carried by the state news agency, TASS, on Tuesday.
Ukraine’s leadership responded to the clash, between the Ukrainian navy and Russia’s coastguard, by imposing martial law throughout much of the country on Monday.
Source: Aljazeera TV.