By IANS/RIA Novosti,
Moscow : Moscow and Kiev have agreed to extend the lease of a Russian naval base in Crimea in exchange for a 30 percent cut in gas prices for Ukraine.
The documents were signed Wednesday after negotiations between Russian President Dmitry Medvedev and his Ukrainian counterpart Viktor Yanukovych.
The lease agreement extends Russian naval presence in the port of Sevastopol for 25 years after the current lease expires in 2017, and may be further extended by another five years.
Medvedev stressed the importance of the base as key to regional security and vowed assistance in developing Sevastopol’s socio-economic infrastructure in an effort to promote public relations and improve the Russian Navy’s image.
“I will instruct the defence minister and the Black Sea Fleet commander to draft an agreement on the participation of our base in the socio-economic development of Sevastopol,” Medvedev said.
Yanukovych has pledged to move Ukraine away from the pro-Western stance of former president Viktor Yushchenko, who vowed that Russia would have to look for a new main base for its Black Sea Fleet, once the current deal expires in 2017.
The Ukrainian opposition, however, said any prolongation of Russian military presence would require amendments to the Constitution as well as a national referendum.
Yushchenko’s party said Yanukovych should be impeached for signing an agreement extending Russian naval presence in the Crimea because it contradicts the Ukrainian Constitution.
NATO spokesman James Apparthurai said Russia and Ukraine are both partners of the Western military alliance and the signing of the agreement on the base is a bilateral affair.
Ukraine will get a discount on gas prices from Russia. “Discounts for Ukraine will come into effect from April this year,” Yanukovych said. The discount will apply to 30 billion cubic meters of Russian natural gas to be supplied to Ukraine in 2010 and 40 billion cubic meters in subsequent years.
Yanukovych, who was inaugurated in February, vowed during his campaign to improve ties with Russia and renegotiate the January 2009 deal on gas supplies between the two countries.