Russia will return the Ukrainian vessels, which were seized in the Kerch Strait area in November 2018, in the near future, according to Ukrainian Foreign Minister Vadym Prystaiko.
“We have reached the final stage of the vessels’ transfer. They will be returned in the near future. Technical aspects of the talks are being held with Russia’s naval command. Meanwhile, we, as the Foreign Ministry, are tasked with facilitating the completion of this process,” Prystaiko said in an interview with the Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty (RFE/RL).
Ukraine has expressed the readiness to retrieve the vessels, Prystaiko said, adding, “Just give us the exact coordinates where they will be anchored and the time when we can pick them up.”
“Kyiv is keen to discover in what condition the vessels are in, especially marks from the shots that were fired at them. But something tells me they won’t be there when we go to pick them up,” he said, reaffirming the pending return.
He also said that Russia’s release of Ukrainian sailors did not qualify as obeying the ruling of the International Tribunal for the Law of the Sea.
“The move didn’t qualify Russia as obeying the UN tribunal’s ruling. [The sailors] should have been released a long time ago, without any [persons] wanted by Russia being released by us. Unfortunately, we could not wait until Russia obeyed the ruling of the international tribunal while our people stayed incarcerated in Russia,” Prystaiko said.
In his opinion, it may take the tribunal years to pronounce the final ruling on Russia’s breach of the immunity of three Ukrainian military vessels and their 24 crewmembers.
“As to when the final decision may be made, I think it will take [several] years. That’s unfortunate, but this is how international tribunals are arranged. Sadly, there is no better mechanism available,” Prystaiko said.
