Russia’s return to PACE not linked with Kerch Strait sailors case – Putin

Russia’s return to the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE) after a four-year ban is not linked to the dispute over Ukrainian sailors detained in the Kerch Strait last year, President Vladimir Putin said.

Moscow had its full voting rights at PACE restored earlier in June, after practically being banned from the European Council’s parliamentary arm in 2014 after Crimea held a referendum to join Russia in the aftermath of the Maidan coup in Kiev.

At Putin’s final press conference at the G20 summit in Osaka, Japan earlier on Saturday, a journalist inquired whether Russia’s return to PACE is due to a rumored agreement to return the Ukrainian sailors to their homeland.

“What does [Russia’s return to] PACE have to do with Ukrainian sailors?” Putin responded.

Russia and Ukraine have been locked in a dispute for months now following the standoff in the Kerch Strait, which connects the Black Sea with the Sea of Azov, near Crimea. On November 25, the Russian Coast Guard captured two Ukrainian gunboats and a tugboat which Russia claimed violated its maritime borders after hours of requesting the vessels to stop. The ships had 24 crewmen on board, all of whom were arrested and later formally charged with illegally crossing Russia’s border. Ukraine at the time denied that its ships had violated Russia’s border, demanding the “immediate” release of the sailors.

Putin said the matter regarding those detained will be resolved “calmly and in working order.”

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