You're reading: Expert: Actions of Russia already break agreement with Ukraine on deployment of Black Sea Fleet in Crimea

The actions of Russia in Crimea have already broken the Agreement between Ukraine and the Russian Federation on the Status and Conditions of Presence of the Black Sea Fleet of the Russian Federation in the Territory of Ukraine dated May 28, 1997 and the denouncement of the treaty by the Ukrainian party is more of a technical issue for the parliament, according to the Director of Military Programs at the Razumkov Center Mykola Sunhurovsky.

“Earlier on, there were both supporters and opponents of the presence
of the Russian Black Sea Fleet in the Crimea. Russia single-handedly
endorsed the withdrawal from the treaty by breaking all the agreements
with its aggression. Ukraine has a right not to consider itself a part
of these agreements,” the expert said during the presentation of “SIPRI
Yearbook 2013” at Interfax-Ukraine in Kyiv on Thursday.

According to him, Ukraine’s formal denouncement of the agreement is only a matter to be formalized in the parliament.

The temporary presence of the Black Sea Fleet on Ukraine’s territory
until 2017 is regulated by three primary agreements dated May 28, 1997,
which were ratified by the Verkhovna Rada and nine additional
agreements.

In April 2010, the Presidents of Ukraine and Russia signed the
Kharkiv Pact, according to which the duration of the Black Sea Fleet
presence in the Crimea was extended to 25 years, starting from 2017,
with an additional 5-year renewal option – until 2042-2047. In exchange,
the Ukrainian party received a 30% drop in gas prices, which, however,
didn’t exceed $100 per 1,000 cubic meters.