Foreign Ministry to increase pressure on Russia over new arrests in Crimea

Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Mariana Betsa said this in Kyiv on Tuesday at a press conference "A New Wave of Political Arrests in Occupied Crimea," according to an Ukrinform correspondent.

"On our part, we, first and foremost, will increase political pressure on Russia... Secondly, today our Foreign Minister Pavlo Klimkin will speak at a special meeting of the UN Security Council on Ukraine, and we are already a non-permanent member of the Security Council. Thanks to our Polish colleagues, today a special session of the UN Security Council will take place, and the minister will speak to condemn Russian aggression and show a terrible picture of repressions in Crimea, recall some of the most resonant cases and urge our partners to increase diplomatic and political pressure, including the sanctions list," Betsa said.

According to her, recent criminal cases in Crimea, including the kidnapping and beating of a delegate of the Kurultai of the Crimean Tatar people, Asan Egiz, are an attempt to discredit the Mejlis of the Crimean Tatar people, which is cynical against the background of an order to Russia on the part of the International Court of Justice to restore the activity of the Mejlis, which was banned by Russia after annexation of Crimea.

op