The European Union (EU) has pledged to take "appropriate, targeted measures" within the coming days or weeks to address the situation in the Sea of Azov, where Russia is stopping foreign vessels, specifically Ukrainian ones, according to EU High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy Federica Mogherini.

Over the past months, Russia has briefly detained dozens of Ukrainian ships heading to Ukrainian ports via the Kerch Strait.

Kyiv-based experts believe that that Russia’s aim is to block the sea-lanes to Ukraine because up to 80% of Ukraine’s exports go via the sea. The row over Ukraine’s access and use of the shipping routes has flared since the completion of the Ketch bridge linking Russia’s mainland to the Crimea peninsula last month. The clearance under the bridge has already made it impossible for some larger ships to reach some Ukrainian ports in the region.

"These are issues on which we will continue to work with the full determination from all our member states and obviously EU institutions and services to continue working on this, including taking appropriate, targeted measures in the coming weeks or days," Interfax news agency quoted Mogherini as saying on November 19. 

"The situation in the Sea of Azov is damaging not only the Ukrainian economy, but also so many vessels that are flying EU member states' flags."

According to the 2003 agreement signed between Russian President Vladimir Putin and Ukraine’s then-president Leonid Kuchma, both countries can use the Azov Sea freely. This same agreement, Khara says, allows Russia to position its vessels near the Ukrainian shore.