REUTERS
Russian border guards have already stopped 93 foreign vessels heading to and from Ukrainian ports since end of April 2018.
The Infrastructure Ministry of Ukraine wants a protest to be lodged with Russia's Foreign Ministry over the illegal inspection by Russia's special units of ships heading to Ukrainian ports across the Kerch Strait.
"The Infrastructure Ministry will request that Ukraine's Ministry of Foreign Affairs use established diplomatic channels with the Foreign Ministry of the Russian Federation to protest against Russian special units' actions and issues related to the organization of joint use of the Sea of Azov and navigation regulations," the ministry's press service said in a statement quoting Deputy Infrastructure Minister Yuriy Lavreniuk as saying.
Some 93 vessels heading to ports of Ukraine in the Sea of Azov were stopped for inspection from April 29, 2018, to July 9, 2018, Lavreniuk said.
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"The authorities of the Russian Federation do not explain the causes behind the inspections of the vessels, thus creating tension in the region and hindering peaceful navigation in the northeastern part of the Black Sea and near the Sea of Azov," Lavreniuk said. "As a result of such inspections, vessels remain idle from several hours to several days. Shipowners incur unnecessarily large expenses," Lavreniuk said. The press service noted that vessels are examined from one to two times, and some of them face up to three inspections.
As UNIAN reported, the State Border Service of Ukraine said that in the second half of April, Russian border guards began to inspect foreign vessels that were heading both to and from the Ukrainian ports. The State Border Service notes that Ukraine has been a hostage to the situation since 2004, namely, due to the Agreement between Ukraine and the Russian Federation on Cooperation in the Sea of Azov and the Kerch Strait, which defines the Sea of Azov as a sea of internal use of the two states. Thus, both Russian and Ukrainian border guards are authorized to inspect ships that, in their opinion, look suspicious.