Diplomatic discussions remain at a standstill between Ukraine and Russia, after a meeting this Thursday in Berlin of Ukrainian, Russian, French and German presidential advisers, as part of the Normandy format. The head of Ukraine’s presidential administration, Andriy Yermak, said last night that the talks had yielded no progress, but the sides would meet again in the coming weeks. Meanwhile, the military pressure does not relax on the Ukrainian borders, and this time on the southern flank, in the waters of the Black Sea, where the Russian naval forces are beginning military exercises.
In recent weeks, the Russian Navy has transported six warships from the Baltic Sea to the Mediterranean, then after refueling in Syria, they have entered the Bosphorus and are now in the Black Sea, reports our correspondent in Kiev, Stephane Siohan.
The Kremlin announced that starting Sunday and for a week, the Russian Navy would hold military exercises, with missile and artillery fire, all around Crimea, in the Sea of Azov and in the Sea black, very close to the big Ukrainian city of Odessa.
For the Ukrainian government, this is an unprecedented blockade of the Black Sea, never seen in the last eight years, because for at least a week, no ship will be able to enter or leave Ukrainian territorial waters.
In the coming days, all Ukrainian ports will be isolated from the outside world, due to the Russian military presence.
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Yesterday, Thursday, the Russian and Belarusian armies began major maneuvers in Belarus on Thursday. The deployment of these soldiers was immediately qualified by the Ukrainian presidency as a means of “psychological pressure” used by Moscow, which has also massed more than 100,000 soldiers since November near its own border with Ukraine.
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It’s a real ring of fire, which will surround the territory of Ukraine, without anyone knowing what Russia’s final intentions really are.