Talks on release of Ukrainian sailors intensified after leaders spoke

Ukrainian ombudswoman for human rights Lyudmila Denisova speaks with journalists before the arrival of detained crew members of Ukrainian naval ships, which were seized by Russia's FSB security service in November 2018, outside a court building in Moscow, Russia July 17, 2019. REUTERS/Shamil Zhumatov

KIEV (Reuters) - Negotiations on the release of Ukrainian sailors, captured by Russian Navy off the coast of Crimea, have intensified after Russian and Ukrainian leaders spoke by phone earlier this month, Ukraine's ombudswoman said on Thursday.

Russia captured three Ukrainian vessels and their crews in November 2018 in territorial waters that separate Crimea, which Moscow annexed from Ukraine in 2014, and Russia.