Russia returning Ukrainian ships

(Patria) – Russia will return three naval ships to Ukraine on Monday, which are already on their way to Kyiv where the handover will take place.  

Ukraine has been working on the return of the ships for a long time, which will ultimately be considered a gesture of goodwill by Moscow before the summit on eastern Ukraine next month.

The Crimean border service confirmed that the handover, based on an agreement with Ukraine, will take place on November 18, and that the ships are already moving towards the agreed location.

Russia seized the ships off the coast of Crimea in November last year after opening fire on them, injuring several sailors. Justifying its move, Russia stated that the vessels – two small Ukrainian armed artillery boats – had illegally entered its territorial waters, which Kyiv denied.

Russia released the sailors in September as part of a prisoner exchange deal.

Leaders of Russia, Ukraine, France, and Germany will meet in Paris on December 9 to intensify efforts to find a peaceful solution to the conflict in eastern Ukraine, the French presidency announced.

However, the Kremlin claims that the summit is 'possible this year' but that the date has not been specified.

More than 13,000 people have lost their lives during the five-year conflict in eastern Ukraine between pro-Russian separatists and Ukrainian government forces.

After Russia annexed the Crimean peninsula, a move that triggered Western sanctions, relations with Ukraine were severed. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has promised a resolution to the conflict, Euronews reports.