Alwaght- German Chancellor Angela Merkel has rejected a proposal by Vice President Mike Pence to send German Navy ships towards Russia’s Crimea.
According to reports, Pence demanded that German warships sail through the Kerch Strait separating Crimea from mainland Russia with the objective of provoking President Vladimir Putin.
At a Feb. 16 meeting at the Munich Security Conference, Pence urged Merkel to send German warships through a narrow channel between the Crimean Peninsula and mainland Russia to show Putin that Western powers won’t surrender their access to those waters, according to the officials, who spoke on condition of anonymity.
The German leader refused, they said, citing reservations from Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko. A spokesman for the chancellor declined to comment. Merkel had indicated she was willing, in coordination with the French, to send a convoy through the waterway as a one-time maneuver but Poroshenko said that wasn’t enough to solve his problem -- he wants to ensure the strait is open permanently, the people said. France also refused to take part, judging the idea as an unnecessary provocation, according to another official who declined to be identified.
Crimea declared independence from Ukraine on March 17, 2014 and formally applied to become part of Russia following a referendum a day earlier, in which 96.8 percent of participants voted in favor of the secession. US-backed Western countries have refused to recognize the referendum results and have instead imposed sanctions on Russia.
