Russia accuses US, UK of trying to incite conflict after Black Sea warship incident

Russia accused the United Kingdom and the United States on June 25 of trying to provocate conflict in the Black Sea. Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov has reportedly said that Russia would defend its borders using all possible means. Washington and London were trying to incite conflict in the region by failing to accept Crimea as a part of Russia, Russian news agency RIA cited Ryabkov as saying.

Russia warns US and UK

Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov said that the Russian borders will be protected "by all means, diplomatic, political and military, if needed." Russia would be ready to fire on targets if warnings don’t work, Ryabkov said while commenting on the Black Sea warship incident. The Russian military ministry called on the British side to conduct investigation of the HMS Defender crew for prevention of similar incidents in the future, according to news agency TASS.

The British Navy destroyer HMS Defender entered Russia's "territorial waters" on Wednesday in breach of the 1982 United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea, according to Moscow’s account of the confrontation. Russian military forces accused the British warship of encroaching the Russian maritime border to the northwestern of the Black Sea at 11:52 am Moscow time (0852 GMT). The Russian Embassy in the United States also hit back at the US for its “groundless” remarks against Moscow. Pentagon Press Secretary John Kirby had earlier claimed at a press conference that Russia’s account of "firing warning shots" to deter HMS Defender was "unfounded” and "yet another example of disinformation." The Russian Embassy in US in response tweeted, “What happened was recorded and published by FSB of Russia. Denying the obvious, Pentagon still lives under illusions on the actual situation in Russian Crimea and around the Peninsula."