Unic Press UK: The Russian Prime Minister, Dmitry Medvedev has said that the incumbent Ukrainian President, Petro Poroshenko has no chances to win the Presidential Election coming up in 2019.
Speaking to reporters, Prime Minister Medvedev said:
“It is obvious that incumbent President Poroshenko has no chances to win in the elections as things stand at the moment, and maybe even no chances to continue to the second round. Obviously, this incident [in the Kerch Strait] is an additional complication of the processes going on in Ukraine. It will create or, at least, may create serious problems for Ukraine’s economy. And, naturally, it will do no good to the relations between Russia and Ukraine,” the Russian News Agency, TASS reported.
On November 25, the Russian military seized three Ukrainian naval vessels, claiming a breach of territorial waters; and began Tuesday to prosecute all the crew of Ukrainian navy vessels captured at sea off Crimea. “The Ukrainian vessels were sailing between two Ukrainian ports: from Odessa in the Black Sea to Mariupol in the Azov Sea. The only waterway that connects the two is the Kerch Strait between Crimea and mainland Russia,” the RT reported.
Soon after its three vessels and crew members were captured/seized by Russian forces, the Ukrainian President Poroshenko made an application to the Council of National Security and Defense of Ukraine to impose a 30-day martial law; and it was approved. It remains to be seen how a martial law in Ukraine would impact on the Russian government.
