Russian President Vladimir Putin has no plans to hold talks with Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said, commenting on the possibility of telephone conversation between Putin and Poroshenko.
"I can only confirm to you that there really hasn’t been a telephone conversation between Putin and Poroshenko so far after the incident, and at the moment, as far as I know, in the coming days, such a conversation is not planned," Peskov said.
Poroshenko’s statement about Russia allegedly planning to build a "corridor" from Donbass to Crimea is absurd, it is just another attempt to cause tensions, Peskov noted, commenting on the Ukrainian leader’s words that Moscow is allegedly planning to seize Mariupol and Berdyansk.
"This statement is absolutely absurd, another attempt to somehow spark tensions. Unfortunately, it is clear that such attempts are likely to continue as the presidential election in Ukraine is nearing," the Kremlin spokesman said, pointing out that "Russia has never seized anything, or laid any corridors."
"That’s why this is an absolutely ungrounded statement," TASS cited Peskov as saying.
Commenting on Ukrainian Infrastructure Minister Yuriy Lavrenyuk's statement that Russia was obstructing the passage of Ukrainian ships in the Kerch Strait, Peskov stressed that any claims that shipping traffic has been restricted in the Kerch Strait are untrue.
"They [the Ukrainian minister's statements] are untrue," Peskov noted. "There is a certain procedure for technical notification of the Kerch port authority, so there are no restrictions there. Quite intensive international navigation is underway there," he said.
However, Peskov said navigation was sometimes suspended to ensure the safety of sea navigation with account for the weather conditions, which, he said, was common international practice.
Political scientist Sergei Slobodchuk, speaking with the correspondent of Vestnik Kavkaza, noted that Petro Poroshenko, by demanding direct talks with Vladimir Putin, seeks to present himself as the main communicator between Ukraine and Russia. "He wants the Russian leadership to hear his version of events, otherwise there is a possibility that the current situation will be resolved between Russia and the United States without Ukraine’s participation. At the same time, in cases when Poroshenko does not manage to agree, he has a proven negotiator Viktor Medvedchuk who can call Putin. I think it will eventually happen in a few days, as there is a risk that Ukraine will lose the initiative in the discussion about the fate of sea workers, and international legal assessment of the situation will be transferred to European structures," he expects.
"Ukraine is not represented in the Volker-Surkov talks, so Poroshenko is trying to call the Kremlin to dialogue so that Ukraine is perceived as a participant in the negotiation process. Kurt Volker, who will speak on behalf of Ukraine, does not represent Ukrainian interests, he represents the interests of the United States. A clear arms lobby has emerged now in the U.S., within which representatives of both parties demand that Trump supply Ukraine naval boats and various types of weapons, and at negotiations with Russia, American politicians will lobb interests of their military-industrial complex and arms sales. The case of the sailors and Ukraine's interests will then recede into the background. Therefore, Poroshenko is trying to cut into it," Sergei Slobodchuk said.
