The Kremlin on Friday rebuffed a U.S. call to release Ukrainian ships and sailors, saying it could not take precedence over Russia's justice system, but added that Moscow remained interested in a top-level meeting with the U.S.
Earlier this week, U.S. National Security Advisor John Bolton said that there will be no meeting between U.S. President Donald Trump and his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin when Russia still holds Ukrainian ships and sailors.
"Of course, such a position cannot be grounds for violating the course of legal proceedings and the investigation that is under way against those who violated Russia's state borders," Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said.
Peskov said the Kremlin remained ready to organize a future meeting between Putin and Trump, as well as at other levels.
Trump has, for his part, announced to cancel the planned meeting with Putin, before arriving in Argentina for the Group of 20 summit, saying, "The ships and sailors have not been returned to Ukraine from Russia."
The Nikopol gunboat, the Berdyansk gunboat, and the Yany Kapu tugboat (L-R) of the Ukrainian Navy tugged to the Kerch Seaport, Crimea, November 26, 2018. /VCGÂ Photo
On November 25, Russia seized three Ukrainian ships near the Kerch Strait, saying the Ukrainian vessels sparked the confrontation by refusing to yield upon orders from Russian border forces to change their course in Russian territorial waters.
The Ukrainian side denied that the vessels were in Russian waters and they had the right to sail through the Kerch Strait, calling Russia's move an "act of aggression" and imposing a martial law in certain regions of the country for 30 days starting on November 28.
U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo warned on Wednesday that the West's deterrence is "on the horizon" to respond to Russia's recent confrontation with Ukraine and its military moves in Venezuela.
(Top image: Russian presidential spokesman Dmitry Peskov at a meeting at the Kremlin, July 11, 2018. /VCG Photo)