EU leaders urge Russia to release Ukrainian sailors

BRUSSELS

European Union leaders on Thursday reiterated their call on Russia to release 24 Ukrainian sailors captured last November and return their naval vessels.

“The European Council reiterates its call on Russia to release the captured Ukrainian sailors unconditionally, return the seized vessels and ensure free passage of all ships through the Kerch Strait in accordance with international law,” they said in the closing statement of their meeting.

The leaders of all 28 EU countries were meeting in Brussels to discuss who will helm the bloc, the union's strategic agenda for 2019-2024 and its Multiannual Financial Framework (MFF).

They expressed concern over Moscow’s move to make it easier for residents of separatist-controlled eastern Ukraine to obtain Russian passports through a presidential decree in April.

“The European Council will continue to monitor the situation in eastern Ukraine and stands ready to consider further options, including non-recognition of Russian passports issued in contradiction to the Minsk agreements,” it added.

Ukraine has been wracked by conflict in its eastern regions since March 2014, after Russia’s annexation of Crimea. Fighting with separatists in the Donbass area has led to more than 10,000 deaths, according to the UN.

Russia's seizure of Ukrainian sailors last November in a confrontation off the Crimean Peninsula escalated regional conflicts.

- Turkey’s drilling activities in Eastern Mediterranean

The statement also called Turkey’s drilling activities in the Eastern Mediterranean “illegal” and voiced concern over the ongoing activities.

It said the activities have a “negative impact” on EU-Turkey relations and called on Turkey to “respect the sovereign rights” of Greek Cypriots.

Turkey’s Foreign Ministry condemned a statement Tuesday by the EU’s General Affairs Council (GAC) which expressed serious concerns over Turkey's “current illegal drilling activities” in the Eastern Mediterranean.

The GAC said it “deplores that Turkey has not yet responded to the European Union's repeated calls to cease such activities” and underlined the “serious immediate negative impact that such illegal actions have across the range of EU-Turkey relations".

The Foreign Ministry said “these conclusions show how far the EU is from understanding the steps taken by Turkey despite the conditions it finds itself in and the challenges it faces.”

The ministry also noted that Turkey always stands for “peace and stability” in all the surrounding seas, including the Aegean and the Eastern Mediterranean.

“Those taking steps against the legitimate rights and interests of Turkey and the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus in the Eastern Mediterranean and ignoring the presence of Turkey in the region as the country with the longest continental coastline in the Eastern Mediterranean will never reach their goals,” it said.

Turkey has consistently contested the Greek Cypriot administration’s unilateral drilling in the Eastern Mediterranean, saying Turkish Cypriots also have rights to the resources in the area and Ankara has the right to hydrocarbon drilling.

Turkey’s Fatih drillship launched offshore operations on May 3 in an area 75 kilometers (42 nautical miles) off the western coast of the island and is set to be joined by the drillship Yavuz.

In 1974, following a coup aimed at Cyprus’ annexation by Greece, Turkey intervened as a guarantor power. In 1983, the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus was founded.

The decades since have seen several attempts to resolve the dispute, all ending in failure.

*Writing by Sena Guler