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Zelensky also spoke about the war, and it was in Donbas that unrest between Ukrainian forces and Russian-backed separatists resumed.
Russia expanded the scope of military exercises in the Black Sea on Tuesday, and Washington called Moscow’s decision to soon block strategically important waters around Ukraine as an “unprovoked escalation.”
The training follows rising tensions between Moscow and the West over the concentration of Russian forces on Ukraine’s northern and eastern borders, as well as Russia’s annexation of Crimea in 2014.
The Defense Ministry said in a statement in Moscow that more than 20 Russian warships were participating in a joint exercise with fighters on Tuesday. These ships included frigates, rockets, and anti-submarine ships; they were accompanied by squadrons of fighter jets “flying at very low altitudes and in difficult weather conditions.”
According to the Defense Ministry, more than 50 fighter jets were flown to Crimea. In a separate statement, the ministry said that the Russian Black Sea Fleet had also maneuvered in the presence of an anti-sabotage unit and carried out “submarine training missions.”
Russian news agencies announced last week that Moscow plans to close some parts of the Black Sea to warships and state ships for half a year. Such a move could affect connections with Ukrainian ports on the Sea of Azov, which is connected to the Black Sea by the Kerch Strait along the eastern tip of Crimea.
