Poland would back stepped-up sanctions on Russia: president
PR dla Zagranicy
Paweł Kononczuk
27.11.2018 13:57
Warsaw will back any international move to step up sanctions against Moscow, Polish President Andrzej Duda said on Tuesday.
Andrzej Duda meets Rumen Radev in Sofia. Photo: PAP/Radek Pietruszka
He was speaking after Russia seized three Ukrainian ships near Crimea on Sunday.
"If there are international initiatives … such as the issue of further sanctions, Poland will certainly join in these initiatives, because we are basically ready for all actions that will lead to ending this conflict,” Duda told reporters while in Sofia, Bulgaria.
Speaking after talks on Tuesday with his counterpart President Rumen Radev in the Bulgarian capital, Duda said: "We appeal for international law to be observed.”
He added: “The Ukrainian sailors who have been taken prisoner by the Russian army must be released, just as the ships seized by Russia must be returned to Ukraine.”
Russia on Sunday fired on and captured three Ukrainian navy ships near the annexed Crimea peninsula, escalating tensions between Moscow and Kiev.
Russian forces then took 23 Ukrainians prisoner, six of whom are injured, public broadcaster Polish Radio’s IAR news agency reported.
Russia’s FSB security service has said the Ukrainian ships had entered Russian territorial waters illegally.
Ukraine has decided to declare martial law in 10 districts for 30 days from Wednesday.
(pk/gs)
Source: PAP