Russia moved three captured Ukrainian navy ships to the Kerch Strait, toward the Black Sea to prepare for return today.

"Under the agreement with Ukraine, three of its ships are being towed to a previously agreed place. The handover process will take place on November 18," Russian media quoted an unnamed source as saying. Crimea border official on November 17.

Moscow's return of ships to Kiev is seen as a gesture of goodwill by Russia ahead of a four-way summit to find a solution to end the conflict in eastern Ukraine next month in Paris. Crimea Border Agency has not yet officially commented on this information.

In November 2018, Russia seized three warships and 24 Ukrainian sailors near the Kerch Strait on charges of "violating territorial waters and committing dangerous acts". Kiev denied Moscow's allegations, claiming that its ships were captured after leaving Russian territorial waters, and demanded that the Russian authorities release the captured sailors and warships immediately but were not met.

In September, Russia released 24 Ukrainian sailors as part of an agreement to exchange prisoners between the two countries to ease tensions in bilateral relations.

Conflict in eastern Ukraine came after Russia annexed Crimea in 2014, which made relations between Moscow and the West worse. Ukraine and its Western allies accuse Russia of providing financial and military support to the separatists, but Moscow denies the allegations.

Ukraine's President Zelensky, who came to power in May, pledged to bring peace and regain control of Kiev over separatist regions. The Ukrainian army and the separatists last week made the final phase of the withdrawal, seen as a prerequisite for the summit. The five-year conflict between the two sides in Donetsk and Lugansk, eastern Ukraine, has killed more than 13,000 people.

Kerch Strait location. Graphics: Economist.