BRUSSELS (Reuters) - NATO called an emergency meeting with Ukraine on Monday, the Western military alliance said, after Russia opened fire and seized Ukrainian ships over the weekend near Crimea.

NATO announced the meeting in a statement after the alliance’s head Jens Stoltenberg held a phone call with Ukraine’s President Petro Poroshenko on Monday “about developments in the Azov Sea and Kerch Strait ... involving Russian and Ukrainian naval vessels.”

“The Secretary General expressed NATO’s full support for Ukraine’s territorial integrity and sovereignty, including its full navigational rights in its territorial waters under international law,” it said.

“At the request of President Poroshenko, the Secretary General agreed to convene an extraordinary meeting of the NATO-Ukraine Commission at Ambassadorial level in Brussels this afternoon to discuss the current situation.”</s>The Security Council will convene tomorrow at 11am to discuss the escalating tensions between Ukraine and Russia. Mrs Haley tweeted: “An emergency Security Council meeting has been called for tomorrow at 11am.” The meeting comes after the Permanent Mission of Ukraine to the UN called for an emergency meeting to be held.

A NATO spokesperson said it "fully supports Ukraine's sovereignty and its territorial integrity" and called on Russia "to ensure unhindered access to Ukrainian ports in the Azov Sea”. The spokesman said: "NATO is closely monitoring developments in the Azov Sea and the Kerch Strait, and we are in contact with the Ukrainian authorities. We call for restraint and de-escalation." The mission said: “Ukraine has requested an urgent UN Security Council meeting due to Russian military aggression in the Black Sea and the Sea of Azov: Three Ukrainian vessels attacked and seized, at least six Ukrainian servicemen wounded.” However, Russia’s FSB claims only three people were injured.

Russia also argued the vessels had illegally entered their territory. Despite Russia’s claims, Ukraine has said they had informed Russia about their plans to move their ships to the Sea of Azov. Ukraine said the ships were going from the port of Odessa in the Black Sea to Mariupol in the Sea of Azov. Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko said he will ask the Ukrainian parliament to declare martial law.

Parliament will vote on whether or not to declare martial law on Monday. If martial law is implemented, then it will see civil liberties restricted and the government granted more power. The National Security and Defence Council of Ukraine said it supports the implementing of martial law for up to 60 days. The three ships were intercepted by Russia with Ukraine claiming that one of the vessels was rammed.

The Ukrainian vessels continued through the Kerch Strait before it was stopped by a tanker that Russia had placed under a bridge. Protests were held following the confrontation with flares being thrown in front of the Russian Embassy in the Ukrainian capital of Kiev. In 2014, the Russian military invaded the region of Crimea and annexed it as part of Russia. The land grab has continued to be an area of contention between Ukraine and Russia who both claim the land as theirs.</s>NATO called an emergency meeting with Ukraine on Monday, the Western military alliance said, after Russia opened fire and seized Ukrainian ships over the weekend near Crimea.

NATO announced the meeting in a statement after the alliance's head Jens Stoltenberg held a phone call with Ukraine's President Petro Poroshenko on Monday "about developments in the Azov Sea and Kerch Strait ... involving Russian and Ukrainian naval vessels."

"The Secretary General expressed NATO's full support for Ukraine's territorial integrity and sovereignty, including its full navigational rights in its territorial waters under international law," it said.

"At the request of President Poroshenko, the Secretary General agreed to convene an extraordinary meeting of the NATO-Ukraine Commission at Ambassadorial level in Brussels this afternoon to discuss the current situation."</s>Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko said he will introduce 30 days of martial law across the country after Russian border patrol boats seized two small Ukrainian armored ships and a tug boat that Moscow said illegally entered territorial waters near the Crimean Peninsula.

Poroshenko, speaking to a meeting of his National Security Council in Kiev on Monday, also demanded Russia to release the vessels and 24 sailors that were held after a naval standoff on Sunday near the Kerch Strait that links the Black Sea and the Sea of Avoz.

Ukraine said six members of the crews were wounded in the attack.

“I appeal to the leadership of the Russian Federation with a demand to immediately release the Ukrainian servicemen who were brutally detained in violation of international law and whose fate is unknown,” Poroshenko said, adding that Russia must “de-escalate the situation.”

If the Ukrainian Parliament approves martial law, it will be the first time Kiev has taken such an action since Russia annexed Crimea in 2014, which led to the deteriorating relationship between the two countries.

Russia and Ukraine have engaged in a war of words since the incident with both blaming each other for instigating the conflict in the Black Sea.

Ukraine’s ambassador to the UN Volodymyr Yelchenko urged the the body’s Security Council to tighten sanctions against Russia.

“This is the only way. Russia doesn’t understand any other language, unfortunately,” he said.

Segey Lavrov, the Russian foreign minister, said Ukraine provoked the incident to get the US and other European countries to team up against Moscow.

“There is no doubt that it was done by blessing or, perhaps, even a direct order from the top,” Lavrov said on Monday. “While planning that provocation, Ukraine had undoubtedly hoped to get additional benefits from the situation, expecting the U.S. and Europe to blindly take the provocateurs’ side.”

UN Ambassador Nikki Haley told the Security Council that the US joins with its allies to support Ukraine.

“We stand united in opposing Russia’s attack,” she said. “We strongly support Ukraine sovereignty and territorial integrity within its internationally recognized borders extending to its territorial waters. We express our deep concern over the incident which represents a dangerous escalation and violation of international law.”

Poroshenko halved the proposed period of martial law to 30 days from 60 after he was criticized for trying to disrupt an election that begins at the end of next month and that polls show he’s behind in his bid for re-election.

“Martial law in Ukraine would present a wonderful chance to manipulate the presidential elections,” said Oksana Syroid, a member of parliament.

Poroshenko promised lawmakers that the election would proceed as scheduled and that citizens’ rights would not be violated.

Ukraine said its vessels were steaming to the Sea of Azov through the Kerch Strait in accordance with maritime rules.

A bilateral treaty gives Russia and Ukraine the right to use the strait.

But Russia, which has been tightening its control of the narrow passage since it annexed Crimea, said Ukraine had failed to get permission to allow the flotilla to pass through the strait and had ignored warnings to halt.

Russia then placed a cargo ship under an 11.8-mile bridge it built over the strait.

Ukraine said a Russian ship rammed the tug boat in an effort to stop it.</s>Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko on Monday issued a decree to impose martial law on the country after Russian forces seized three Ukrainian naval vessels and their crews near the disputed Crimea region.

The bill needs parliamentary approval to go into force, with the Supreme Rada due to vote on the issue later on Monday. Martial law would mean, among other things, partial mobilization of the country's military and stepping up air defense — moves that raise fears of a military escalation in the region.

The Ukrainian navy says six of its seamen were injured in the Russian action, during which Russian border guards opened fire on the vessels in the Kerch Strait, a waterway between Russian-annexed Crimea and mainland Russia that flows between the Black Sea and the Sea of Azov.

Read more: Do sanctions against Russia work?

The Kerch Strait and the Sea of Azov are designated as shared territorial waters by a 2003 treaty, but Russia has asserted more control over the waterways since it annexed Crimea in 2014 in a move that drew widespread condemnation and international sanctions.

In recent weeks, Russia has increased its military presence in the area and started inspecting all vessels traveling to or from Ukrainian ports, causing dayslong delays and disrupting trade.

Ukraine had previous detained a Russian fishing vessel travelling from Crimea in March.

Read more: The Odessa massacre: Remembering the 'Holocaust by bullets'

In the latest incident, both sides have traded accusations of the other's being in breach of international norms, with Moscow saying Kyiv failed to obtain authorization for the passage of its vessels, and Kyiv claiming Moscow had ignored a notification sent by the ships.

Ukrainian Foreign Minister Pavlo Klimkin said on Monday that the captured seamen should be treated as prisoners of war. Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov has so far not said whether Moscow will accord them that status.

Tensions between the former Soviet republic of Ukraine and Russia have been growing since 2013, when large-scale protests led to the ousting of pro-Kremlin President Viktor Yanukovych. The Russian annexation of Crimea in 2014 and a Moscow-backed insurgency in Ukraine's east have further fanned the flames.

Each evening at 1830 UTC, DW's editors send out a selection of the day's hard news and quality feature journalism. You can sign up to receive it directly here.</s>Russia fired on and then seized three Ukrainian ships on Sunday, accusing them of illegally entering its waters in the Sea of Azov, in a dramatic spike in tensions that raises fears of a wider escalation.

NATO chief Jens Stoltenberg held phone talks with Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko, and officials from the two sides will meet later in the day.

“The Secretary-General expressed NATO’s full support for Ukraine’s territorial integrity and sovereignty, including its full navigational rights in its territorial waters under international law,” NATO said of Stoltenberg’s call.

Kiev demanded the return of its ships and sailors, denouncing “another act of armed aggression” by Russia, which annexed Crimea from Ukraine in 2014.

The Ukrainian military has been put on high alert and the country’s parliament is to vote on a request by Poroshenko to impose martial law for 60 days.

Ukraine has also urged its Western allies to step up existing sanctions implemented against Russia over Crimea and its role in the ongoing conflict in eastern Ukraine between the government and pro-Moscow separatists.

Moscow blamed Kiev for the incident, with Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov accusing Ukraine of a planned provocation and of using “dangerous methods” that put ships in the area at risk.

Russian denials drew a barbed response on Twitter from the US Special Envoy for Ukraine Negotiations, Kurt Volker.

“Russia rams Ukrainian vessel peacefully travelling toward a Ukrainian port. Russia seizes ships and crew and then accuses Ukraine of provocation???” Volker tweeted.

Tensions have been building over the Kerch Strait, where Russia has built a new bridge that gives it a land connection to Crimea.

Kiev has accused Moscow of blocking access for Ukrainian ships through the strait, the only way in and out of the Sea of Azov to the Black Sea.

The European Union warned Sunday that tensions in the Azov Sea and Kerch Strait had “increased dangerously” and demanded Russia restore freedom of passage.</s>Ukraine’s President Petro Poroshenko has imposed martial law after the Ukrainian vessels faced off with the Russian ships near Crimea.</s>The Security Council will convene tomorrow at 11am to discuss the escalating tensions between Ukraine and Russia. Mrs Haley tweeted: “An emergency Security Council meeting has been called for tomorrow at 11am.” The meeting comes after the Permanent Mission of Ukraine to the UN called for an emergency meeting to be held.

A NATO spokesperson said it "fully supports Ukraine's sovereignty and its territorial integrity" and called on Russia "to ensure unhindered access to Ukrainian ports in the Azov Sea”. The spokesman said: "NATO is closely monitoring developments in the Azov Sea and the Kerch Strait, and we are in contact with the Ukrainian authorities. We call for restraint and de-escalation." The mission said: “Ukraine has requested an urgent UN Security Council meeting due to Russian military aggression in the Black Sea and the Sea of Azov: Three Ukrainian vessels attacked and seized, at least six Ukrainian servicemen wounded.” However, Russia’s FSB claims only three people were injured.

Russia also argued the vessels had illegally entered their territory. Despite Russia’s claims, Ukraine has said they had informed Russia about their plans to move their ships to the Sea of Azov. Ukraine said the ships were going from the port of Odessa in the Black Sea to Mariupol in the Sea of Azov. Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko said he will ask the Ukrainian parliament to declare martial law.

Parliament will vote on whether or not to declare martial law on Monday. If martial law is implemented, then it will see civil liberties restricted and the government granted more power. The National Security and Defence Council of Ukraine said it supports the implementing of martial law for up to 60 days. The three ships were intercepted by Russia with Ukraine claiming that one of the vessels was rammed.

The Ukrainian vessels continued through the Kerch Strait before it was stopped by a tanker that Russia had placed under a bridge. Protests were held following the confrontation with flares being thrown in front of the Russian Embassy in the Ukrainian capital of Kiev. In 2014, the Russian military invaded the region of Crimea and annexed it as part of Russia. The land grab has continued to be an area of contention between Ukraine and Russia who both claim the land as theirs.</s>Ukraine’s parliament has voted to impose martial law to fight what its president called “growing aggression” from Moscow after a naval confrontation off the disputed Crimean peninsula.

The weekend incident saw Russia fire on and seize three Ukrainian vessels amid renewed tensions between the neighbours.

Western leaders and diplomats urged both sides to de-escalate the conflict, and the US blamed Russia for what it called “unlawful conduct” over Sunday’s incident in the Black Sea.

Russia and Ukraine blamed each other in the dispute that ratcheted up tensions that have simmered since Moscow annexed Crimea in 2014 and threw its weight behind separatists in eastern Ukraine with clandestine support, including troops and weapons.

Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko asked legislators in Kiev to institute martial law, something the country has not done even during the worst of the fighting in the east that killed about 10,000 people.

After a five-hour debate, parliament overwhelmingly approved his proposal, voting to impose martial law for 30 days in 10 of Ukraine’s 27 regions — those bordering Russia, Belarus and Moldova’s pro-Moscow breakaway republic of Trans-Dniester.

The locations were identified as potentially in the front line of any Russian attack. The capital Kiev is not under martial law.

Mr Poroshenko said it was necessary because of intelligence about “a highly serious threat of a ground operation against Ukraine”.

“Martial law doesn’t mean declaring a war,” he said. “It is introduced with the sole purpose of boosting Ukraine’s defence in the light of a growing aggression from Russia.”

Ukraine’s Defence Ministry had announced earlier in the day that its troops were on full combat alert.

The approved measures included a partial mobilisation and strengthening the country’s air defences. It also contained vaguely worded steps such as “strengthening” anti-terrorism measures and “information security” that could curtail certain rights and freedoms.

Mr Poroshenko’s critics reacted to his call for martial law with suspicion, wondering why Sunday’s incident merited such a response. His approval ratings have been plunging, and there were concerns that he would postpone a presidential election scheduled for March.

Just before parliament met to vote, he sought to allay those fears by releasing a statement revising his original martial law proposal from 60 days to 30, to “do away with the pretexts for political speculation”.

Nato secretary-general Jens Stoltenberg said Mr Poroshenko assured him martial law would not have a negative impact on the election.

Mr Poroshenko’s call also outraged far-right groups in Ukraine that have advocated severing diplomatic ties with Russia. Hundreds of protesters from the National Corps party waved flares in the snowy streets of Kiev outside parliament and accused the president of using martial law to his own ends.

But he insisted it was necessary because what happened in the Kerch Strait between Crimea and the Russian mainland “was no accident”, adding that “this was not the culmination of it yet”.

Russian coastguard ships fired on the Ukrainian navy vessels near the strait, which separates the Black Sea from the Sea of Azov, injuring six Ukrainian seamen and eventually seizing the vessels and their crews.

It was the first open military confrontation between the two neighbours since the annexation of Crimea.

Ukraine said its vessels were heading to the Sea of Azov in line with international maritime rules, while Russia said they had failed to obtain permission to pass through the narrow strait that is spanned by a 11.8-mile bridge that Russia completed this year.

While a 2003 treaty designates the Kerch Strait and Sea of Azov as shared territorial waters, Moscow has sought to assert greater control over the passage since the annexation.

Ukrainian foreign minister Pavlo Klimkin said the dispute was not an accident and Russia had engaged in “deliberately planned hostilities”.

His Russian counterpart Sergey Lavrov blamed Kiev for what he described as a “provocation”, adding: “Ukraine had undoubtedly hoped to get additional benefits from the situation, expecting the US and Europe to blindly take the provocateurs’ side.”

At a UN Security Council meeting, US ambassador Nikki Haley urged Moscow to “immediately cease its unlawful conduct” in the Black Sea.</s>Ukrainian lawmakers on Monday approved a decree by President Petro Poroshenko to impose martial law on his country, while the US had severe words for Moscow at the UN, after Russian forces seized three Ukrainian naval vessels and their crews near the disputed Crimea region the day before.

At an emergency meeting of the UN Security Council, US ambassador Nikki Haley warned Russia that its action in seizing the ships was an "outrageous violation of sovereign Ukrainian territory."

She said her statement reflected "the concerns at the highest level" of US leadership, adding that "outlaw actions like this one" would make it impossible for the US to normalize relations with Russia. The US stopped short of calling for further sanctions against Russia.

Russia's deputy UN ambassador, Dmitry Polyanskiy, in his turn accused Ukraine of planning the incident as a way of boosting Poroshenko's popularity ahead of an election in March.

Several European nations, including Germany, France and Britain, issued a statement following the meeting that called for restraint and de-escalation and reaffirmed recognition of Ukraine's territorial integrity.

The Ukrainian president had earlier announced that he had signed a bill calling for martial law in response to the incident.

Martial law would mean, among other things, partial mobilization of the country's military and stepping up air defense — moves that raise fears of a military escalation in the region.

In a televised address, Poroshenko said he had reduced his original call for two months of martial law to 30 days from November 28. The reduction was made in apparent response to opponents who said his initial proposal for 60 days would prevent elections scheduled for March going ahead as expected.

The Ukrainian navy says six of its seamen were injured in the Russian action, during which Russian border guards opened fire on the vessels in the Kerch Strait, a waterway between Russian-annexed Crimea and mainland Russia that flows between the Black Sea and the Sea of Azov.

Read more: Do sanctions against Russia work?

The Kerch Strait and the Sea of Azov are designated as shared territorial waters by a 2003 treaty, but Russia has asserted more control over the waterways since it annexed Crimea in 2014 in a move that drew widespread condemnation and international sanctions.

In recent weeks, Russia has increased its military presence in the area and started inspecting all vessels traveling to or from Ukrainian ports, causing lengthy delays and disrupting trade.

Ukraine had previously detained a Russian fishing vessel travelling from Crimea in March.

Read more: The Odessa massacre: Remembering the 'Holocaust by bullets'

In the latest incident, both sides have traded accusations of the other's being in breach of international norms, with Moscow saying Kyiv failed to obtain authorization for the passage of its vessels, and Kyiv claiming Moscow had ignored a notification sent by the ships.

Ukrainian Foreign Minister Pavlo Klimkin said on Monday that the captured seamen should be treated as prisoners of war. Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov has so far not said whether Moscow will accord them that status.

Tensions between the former Soviet republic of Ukraine and Russia have been growing since 2013, when large-scale protests led to the ousting of pro-Kremlin President Viktor Yanukovych. The Russian annexation of Crimea in 2014 and a Moscow-backed insurgency in Ukraine's east have further fanned the flames.

Each evening at 1830 UTC, DW's editors send out a selection of the day's hard news and quality feature journalism. You can sign up to receive it directly here.
An emergency National Security and Defense Council of Ukraine meeting is convened in response to the Russian blockade of the Kerch Strait and the seizure of its vessels, after which President Petro Poroshenko says he will ask the Verkhovna Rada to support a declaration of martial law in Ukraine. The parliament is set to have an emergency meeting at 4 p.m. local time on November 26.