Moscow: Tit-for-Tat Response to Kiev's Ban on Russian Men Would be 'Irrational'

President Petro Poroshenko has announced that Ukraine would limit the entry into the country for Russian males aged 16-60.

"I would strengthen the registration requirements, especially in areas in which martial law has been imposed," Poroshenko said at a meeting on strengthening the country's defensive capabilities on Friday morning.

Russian Foreign Ministry said that it would be irrational to respond in kind to Kiev's banning Russian male nationals aged 16-60 from entering Ukraine.

READ MORE: Kiev Claims Kerch Strait Provocation Meant to Show Capabilities of Its Vessels

On 25 November, Russia's Federal Security Service (FSB) announced that the Ukrainian Berdyansk and Nikopol gunboats and the Yany Kapu tugboat had illegally crossed the Russian maritime border as they sailed toward the Kerch Strait, the entrance to the Sea of Azov. The Ukrainian vessels were seized by Russia after failing to respond to a demand to stop.

In its turn, Ukraine adopted a decree declaring martial law in several regions located near the Russian border and the coasts of the Black Sea and the Sea of Azov, which will be in place for 30 days.

When commenting on the Kerch Strait row, Russian President Vladimir Putin has said that the incident appeared to have been a provocation prepared in advance as well as a pretext to introduce martial law in Ukraine ahead of the upcoming presidential election in March 2019.