Russia didn't fire shots at UK warship in Black Sea, says Raab

Britain's Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab yesterday said no shots were fired on a British destroyer in the Black Sea and that Russia's explanation of the incident was "predictably inaccurate".

Russia on Wednesday said it had fired warning shots and dropped bombs in the path of the Royal Navy destroyer Defender to chase it out of waters that Moscow claims in the Black Sea off the coast of the Crimean peninsula.

Britain has played down the incident.

"No shots were fired at HMS Defender," Mr Raab told reporters in Singapore during a visit to discuss trade deals. "The Royal Navy ship was conducting innocent passage through Ukrainian territorial waters. We were doing so in accordance with international law and the Russian characterisation is predictably inaccurate."

Russia seized and annexed the Crimean peninsula from Ukraine in 2014 and considers areas around its coast to be Russian waters. Western countries deem Crimea to be part of Ukraine and reject Russia's claim to the waters.

Russia's Foreign Ministry summoned Britain's ambassador Deborah Bronnert to deliver a "tough demarche" - diplomatic jargon for a telling-off - and spokesman Maria Zakharova accused London of "barefaced lies".

Mr Raab also called on China to respect its commitments to free media in Hong Kong under an agreement with Britain, referring to yesterday's closure of Apple Daily, Hong Kong's most vocal pro-democracy newspaper.

Apple Daily's owner and other staff have been arrested under a new national security law championed by Beijing. "We certainly view what's been happening with the closure of the Apple Daily and the arrest of journalists very, very seriously," Mr Raab said.

"We call on China to respect the terms that it freely signed up to and we think that's a matter of trust as well as important for the people of Hong Kong," he said, referring to an agreement between Britain and China over how the city would be ruled after its return to China in 1997.

REUTERS