Putin SHUNS international demands to release Ukrainian sailors seized by Russia in clash

At the G20 summit in Buenos Aires, Argentina, the Russian president addressed the issue and said Moscow is yet to cave in to calls to release three Ukrainian naval ships and 24 sailors being held, who the leader has since accused of illegally crossing the Russian border. He said he would not introduce tit-for-tat restrictions on the entry of Ukrainians into Russia after Kiev imposed a ban on Russian males aged 16 to 60 from entering its territory. After US President Donald Trump cancelled a planned meeting with Putin – with the two opting for a brief sideline discussion instead – at the summit, citing the military tensions with Ukraine, the Russian leader said there were no pre-conditions for future bilateral talks. Mr Putin said: “It is regrettable that we can’t succeed in holding a full-scale meeting, which is long due.”

He said issues of strategic stability would be of paramount importance.

Kremlin aide Yuri Ushakov confirmed Mr Putin ad Mr Trump has a brief meeting on the sidelines of the summit yesterday, despite the US President’s administration accusing Russia of non-compliance with the 31-year-old Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces (INF) treaty following the shots fired at the Ukrainian ships.

Mr Trump said the US will pull out of the deal as a result of Mr Putin’s actions.

But the Kremlin denies violating the pact.

Mr Putin said: “This is related to the issues of strategic stability, especially after the president declared his desire to withdraw from the INF missile treaty.”

Earlier today there had been suspicions Mr Trump threatened to cancel his meeting with Mr Putin because of developments in the special counsel’s probe into Russian meddling in the 2016 election.

Mr Trump’s Secretary of State Mike Pompeo had said the gathering was cancelled “because the Russians behaved in a way that is deeply inconsistent with international law”.

He added: “The President wanted to send a clear, unambiguous message that we find that type of behaviour unacceptable, so we cancelled the meeting.”

But an informal chat between Trump and Putin went ahead on the sidelines of the summit regardless.

World leaders have gathered in Buenos Aires for the G20 summit this weekend.

Also in attendance is China President Jinping Xi, who is embroiled in a bitter trade war with Mr Trump.