Sweden, Estonia, Lithuania and Ukraine have called on Russia to ensure that Kiev keeps its freedom of navigation in the sea bordering Russia, annexed Crimea and Ukraine. The four countries issued the joint statement in support of Ukraine’s sovereignty Tuesday a week after Russia returned three Ukrainian ships it had captured in the Kerch Strait near Russian-annexed Crimea last November. The strait is the only outlet for major Ukrainian ports and cities on the Sea of Azov, and Kiev argues that Moscow cannot deny it passage through the waterway. read more