MOSCOW: European leaders rebuffed calls from Ukraine for greater support against Russia on Thursday, after Kiev urged Nato to send ships into waters disputed with Moscow.

German Chancellor Angela Merkel asked Kiev to be “sensible” following the request from President Petro Poroshenko, just hours after the European Union failed to agree to threaten new sanctions against Moscow.

Kiev has called on Western allies to back expressions of support with concrete action after Russian forces on Sunday seized three Ukrainian ships off the coast of Crimea.

The incident was the most dangerous in years between the ex-Soviet neighbours — who are locked in conflict over Russian-backed separatist regions — and has raised fears of a wider escalation.

In an interview with Germany’s Bild newspaper published on Thursday, Poroshenko asked Nato members including Berlin to send naval vessels to the Sea of Azov to back his country.

“Germany is one of our closest allies, and we hope that states within Nato are now ready to relocate naval ships to the Sea of Azov in order to assist Ukraine and provide security,” he said.

But, while blaming Russia for tensions, Merkel showed no signs of being ready to back military support.

“We ask the Ukrainian side too to be sensible because we know that we can only solve things through being reasonable and through dialogue because there is no military solution to these disputes,” she said.

The Kremlin on Thursday also denied claims from Kiev that it was blocking access for Ukrainian ships to the Kerch Strait, the only crossing point between the Black Sea and the Sea of Azov.

Trump pulls out of Putin meeting

US President Donald Trump on Thursday suddenly cancelled a meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin scheduled for this week’s Group of 20 industrialised nations summit in Argentina, citing the current Ukraine crisis.

“Based on the fact that the ships and sailors have not been returned to Ukraine from Russia, I have decided it would be best for all parties concerned to cancel my previously scheduled meeting in Argentina with President Vladimir Putin. I look forward to a meaningful Summit again as soon as this situation is resolved!” Trump tweeted after departing for the G20 summit.

Trump’s tweet was a sudden turnaround. Roughly an hour earlier, he had told reporters he would probably meet with Putin at the summit and said it was “a very good time to have the meeting”. But Trump had also said he would get a final report during the flight to Argentina on the tension in the region after Russia seized Ukrainian vessels near Crimea on Sunday.

Published in Dawn, November 30th, 2018