BERLIN
The German government has reacted warily after a fleet of Russian warships entered the English Channel.
The comments came on Friday after Russian news agency RIA earlier quoted Northern Fleet officials saying its vessels, led by anti-submarine ship Severomorsk, had passed through the Strait of Dover and entered international waters in the Seine Bay while they waited for a storm to pass.
German government deputy spokeswoman Christiane Wirtz said at a government regular press conference in Berlin: "The naval drill, although it is held in international waters, is not necessarily a sign of de-escalation (between the West and Russia)."
Responding to a journalist's question on whether Germany would send military support to pro-western forces in Ukraine, Wirtz said that Germany did not foresee that happening.
"This issue has not been even debated," she added.
Wirtz also said that the Minsk peace agreement on Ukraine, signed on September 5 after extensive talks between Russia, Ukraine and pro-Russian separatists under the auspices of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe, was not being carried out and both sides should takes steps to adhere to it.
- Efforts 'undermined
She added that German Chancellor Angela Merkel had sent a congratulatory message to Ukraine's re-elected Prime Minister Arseniy Petrovych Yatsenyuk.
The conflict in Eastern Ukraine has escalated since pro-separatist presidential and parliamentary elections in the eastern part of the country were held on Nov. 2.
The EU has denounced the polls as "illegitimate" saying they undermined efforts to resolve the conflict.
However, Russia recognized the vote and separatist leader Alexander Zakharchenko was sworn-in as head of the self-declared Donetsk People's Republic.
At least 3,600 people have died and 8,700 people have been wounded during the conflict in Ukraine which began in mid-April, the UN Human Rights Office said in a report last month.
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