Ukraine drafts law for Russian fleet to leave: report

by Staff Writers
Kiev (AFP) July 22, 2008
NATO membership candidate Ukraine has drafted a controversial law for the departure of the Russia Black Sea fleet from its port of Sevastopol, its foreign minister announced Tuesday, Interfax reported.

Ukraine wants the fleet to quit the Ukrainian port when a 20-year post-Soviet Union lease expires in 2017, but it remains a contentious issue between the two neighbours.

Foreign Minister Volodymyr Ogryzko said the bill was ready and would soon be put before parliament, the Interfax news agency reported.

Russia denounced the draft law shortly after it was announced Tuesday.

"This type of statement prevents constructive negotiations on this issue from taking place," Russia's foreign ministry was quoted as saying by Interfax.

"These acts are premature given that the agreement on the stay of Russia's Black Sea fleet in the Crimea (southern Ukraine) does not expire until 2017," said the Russian ministry.

Russia has expressed a willingness to negotiate a longer lease in order to keep its Black Sea fleet in place, but Kiev has repeatedly ruled this out and said the agreement could not be extended beyond May 28, 2017.

Ukraine's pro-Western president, Viktor Yushchenko, is pushing hard to get his country into NATO, an issue which is another source of tension with Moscow.

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